Fortuitous
by LoveShinobi-Angelv
Summary: Even the brightest ray of sunshine can break through the clouds. -Rated for Sexual Content- Sanosuke x Talia Note: An OC story
1. Damsel in Distress

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter One_

-Damsel in Distress-

A strong wind blew as Talia continued on her way back to Konoha. She looked around, her golden blonde hair whipping around her face. The wind died suddenly, making her hair fall back around her to her waist. She shivered, getting the heebie-jeebies. "I hate traveling by myself." She grumbled, brushing some of her bangs from her face, since they were falling into her amber eyes. They were almost the color of liquid gold, sparkling in the brilliant sunlight.

She was wearing tight black leggings that stopped mid-calve, a tight white skirt over them, just long enough to cover her rear. Her shirt cut off just above her belly button and was sleeveless, the top almost acting like a turtleneck. It clung to her like a second skin, and over it she had on a white halter-like vest on that fastened in the front. Over her shoulder was a messenger bag filled with herbs and medicines that she'd traveled very far to get for the hospital and the greenhouses.

Despite the fact that she wasn't a ninja, she'd volunteered to go. She had always loved adventure, and thought it a great opportunity to serve her village in the small way she could. She stopped suddenly, hearing a small cry. The blonde looked around, trying to locate the sound. When she did she hurried off the path and pushed through the brush. "Hello?" she called. "Is someone out here?"

"Help!"

Talia searched once more, finally seeing a young girl on the ground with a wounded leg. "What happened?" she asked, kneeling beside her and examining the damage. Unfortunately, once she was face to face with the girl, she saw that it wasn't in fact a little girl, and she moved to slice Talia with the sharp knife she had in her hand. "Ah!" she flinched back, going wide eyed.

The woman stared at her, a bit angrily, "Why won't you help me?" she tried to sound sad.

"Because! You have a kunai in your hand and you were about to attack me!"

The woman glared at her, "What?" she seethed. "How could you possibly have seen through that?"

"Seen through what?" Talia swallowed. But the woman was done talking, and was soon joined by two other men.

"No matter. Let's just grab her and see what we can find out." One said.

The other male nodded. "She's definitely from Konoha, I can smell the leaves on her."

Talia's eyes widened and she tried to scoot back. "I'm not anyone important! I just work at the hospital." She tried to tell them, but they didn't seem to care, because the next thing she saw was the taller man launching at her with a sword in hand. But he never made contact, because just as he was about to reach her, he was hit off to the side. And the next thing Talia saw was a tall dark haired man standing between her and the other ninja.

He was dressed in the tight uniform that was Anbu, though his hawk mask was resting on top of his head and off to the right a bit. Through his black spandex, Talia could see the clear definition of all of his lean muscles not covered by the white armor he wore over it. "You should never attack a defenseless woman." He said, his voice deep and firm. "You may not like the consequences."

"An U-Uchiha!" the woman shrieked, going stark white with fear. But before either could run, they let out terrified screams that filled the woods. Talia clapped her hands over her ears, watching their terrified faces contort into agony before they fell to the ground lifelessly.

The blonde stared at them and it was then that she realized she was crying and shaking. The man turned to her, his sharingan fading into dark pool of green. He walked over to her and squat down to her level before gripping her chin lightly, tilting her face up to him. "Are you alright Miss?" he asked, sounding kinder than he had before, though it was slight. Behind him she could see sand gathering, forming a large gourd on his back.

"Oh my God." She breathed out, turning a dark red. "You're Uchiha Sanosuke."

"Yes." He nodded. "Judging by that response, I assume that I got to you in time." He said, glancing behind him at the bodies. "Wait here." He instructed, releasing her and walking over to examine the dead nin. Getting whatever information he needed from them, his sand flowed and covered the bodies. Another sliver moved towards Talia, and covered her eyes so that she didn't see anything. She heard what sounded like a crunching sound, and when the sand left her eyes, it was to rejoin with the rest at Sanosuke's back. It was then she realized that the bodies were no longer there. Then he walked back over to her as if nothing had happened. "May I ask your name?"

"Utagawa Talia." She said quickly, taking his offered hand and helping herself up. She tried not to think about the fact that there wasn't even a trace left from the people who had attacked her. After all, this was the son of her Hokage and the relentless Sabaku no Natsumi. That woman was known for her merciless killing, hence why she controlled the Anbu next to her husband. "How did you-" she pointed at him and then around. "Why were you-" then she blushed once more, giving him a small smile. "You have great timing."

"I was on my way back from a mission and sensed a sinister presence." He informed her. That was when I heard the cry, and knew something was up." He frowned slightly then. "You saw through her genjutsu, how?"

Talia just shrugged, looking confused herself. "I don't know, she just attacked me. It's not like I'm blind. She just went for it and acted as if I wasn't supposed to see it."

"You weren't." Sanosuke stated. "It was strong by normal standards, any civilian would have been tricked by it." his eyes changed back to his sharingan then, and he stared at her. When nothing happened, he leaned closer, so that their faces were inches apart as his red eyes bore into her amber depths. "Hm."

She looked off nervously, swallowing hard as she wet her mouth so when she spoke she wouldn't sound so affected. "What are you doing?" she asked, sounding small.

He gently gripped her chin and turned her head back towards him. "Checking something. Now look at me please." He said, his sharingan swirling into the Mangekyou.

Talia blinked, staring into the blood red eyes of the Uchiha's. She'd never seen them up so close before, and they were absolutely amazing. It was mind blowing how the pattern changed and moved, but he was still just staring at her. She let out a small breath and after a while her gaze turned into a glare. "Okay. You can stop your freaky eye twirl thing now."

He didn't respond, and the blonde deadpanned before she did the one thing no one had ever accomplished before. She slapped the Uchiha. "Stop it already! It's cool and all but it's still creepy! I don't want to watch your eyes get all teretzy!" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sanosuke stared at her in shock, his eyes fading back to green as he placed a hand over the sting on his cheek. "It doesn't work. Amazing." He breathed out, not even upset that he had been hit. He had invaded her personal space, after all. And his mother had told him many times before that not everybody would go along with his silent, non-explanation giving behavior as well as his family did. It seemed she was right. As always.

"What doesn't work?" she demanded, giving him another glare before her eyes widened. "You just tried to put me in a genjutsu didn't you!" she accused, pointing her finger in his face. "The nerve! Just because you're an Uchiha and extremely gorgeous to boot with muscles that would make any girl swoon doesn't mean you can just willy nilly do as you please. You got that bucko?" she huffed, poking him in the chest. "Cause' I ain't having it." She poked him once more for emphasis, though he grabbed the digit before she could retract it.

"First of all, it didn't work, so you're fine." He said, looking like he wanted to roll his eyes. "You should be glad that you are unaffected by genjutsu and can see through them. It is a trait that any ninja would kill for, so I would recommend not leaving the village alone any longer. Or even at all. Second of all, never call me…bucko, again. And lastly, thank you." he smirked slightly. "I do not believe anyone has ever complimented me in such a manner before."

Talia blushed and looked off. "Well…you're welcome. I'm just saying you can't do what you want and there's no way I'm not ever leaving the village again. I don't want to be in prison." She huffed, snatching her finger from his grasp before turning away from him and heading back to the road. "Anyways, thanks for saving me." She called over her shoulder.

She let out a startled scream as she was suddenly lifted into his strong arms. "You're welcome." He said, leaping into the trees. "I will escort you back. It will be much faster." He explained, moving from branch to branch in a rapid manner.

Despite her flustered expression, she tried to protest. "I have legs you know. I can walk."

"That will just slow us down." He smirked, glancing down at her. "And I like to go fast."

Talia sighed, grabbing her bag and cradling it since she didn't want to lose any of her herbs. "I'm not slow." She grumbled.

"I never said you were." Sanosuke replied, before stopping on a branch. "Would you rather I set you down and we walk?"

"Well we're already going, so I don't see why it matters." She said matter-of-factly, though she truly didn't want to. She felt like a princess from a fairytale book, being carried off after her brave knight had saved her. "So…" she trailed off. "You just got back from an Anbu mission?"

"Yes." He pushed off from the branch and resumed their fast pace towards home.

She stayed silent, trying not to look so awkward. "What did you do?"

He looked down at her. "I can't tell you that." He said. "But you can tell me why you were travelling alone. Has no one ever told you about the dangers outside the village? Especially for a woman as nice looking as you are."

"I was getting some herbs from a nearby town." She explained, pointing to her bag. "They're rare, and I was bringing them so we could start growing them as well."

Sanosuke nodded. "That must have been Hayate's idea." He mused.

"Mhm." She nodded. "But none of the ninja wanted to go because it was such a trivial mission, and so I decided to go myself. I'm not afraid of leaving the village." Talia replied smugly, but then blinked. "Wait a second…" she trailed off, backtracking on his words. A huge blush spread across her face, tinting her cheeks the color of a cherry. "Did you just say I was pretty?"

An attractive smirk came to his features as their eyes met. "In so many words, yes."

It was as if Talia's heart was about to explode from the rapid beating. Uchiha Sanosuke thought she was pretty? She knew she was pretty, but to hear him of all people say it, it seemed to make it undeniably real. "Thank you…" she whispered, fiddling nervously with her fingers. All too soon, Sanosuke landed in front of the large gates that led into Konoha.

"You're welcome." He said as he set her down, thinking she was thanking him for bringing her home. "Do you want me to escort you to the hospital as well?"

"No it's okay. I know you probably have to get back to your mom and report your heinous act." She smirked, though she couldn't help the jab. She knew the Anbu did some pretty shady things, and having never known any personally, she didn't really think of them as anything more than ninja who liked to prove themselves by taking others out.

He returned the gesture. "Yes, because saving you is so terrible." He said, knowing she was talking about his secret mission. He bowed then, a gesture that shocked the blonde woman. "Goodbye, Utagawa Talia. Maybe I'll see you again someday." He said, before disappearing in a whirl of sand.

Talia stared at the spot that Sanosuke had been, glancing around suspiciously. She'd never actually seen any of the Uchiha children do that before. Not like she'd actually been around that many, but they came to the hospital a lot to visit Hayate, and the youngest of the clan never seemed to find it necessary to transport that way.

She turned her back to the gate and started towards the hospital. Still, he thought she was pretty. That alone made her stomach flutter. All her life, she'd seen Sanosuke from afar, or with his family, and she'd always found him cute. Sure, his elder brothers were extremely good looking as well, but Kanamé had always been too kind looking for her taste and Noriaki, as everyone knew, was a complete arrogant jerk, except to his girlfriend, Hikari.

But somehow Sanosuke had always held her gaze. She let out a small giggle and hurried forth, eager to get back to work and help Hayate with the herbs she'd gotten.


	2. Chance Occurence

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter Two_

-Chance Occurrence-

Talia sat in the hospital break room wearing sea foam green scrubs. Her hair was clipped up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face and out of the way. It had been almost a whole week and a half since her encounter with Uchiha Sanosuke, and she couldn't help but feel depressed. As unusual as it was to see him amongst civilians, it seemed he was being even more allusive than normal.

She growled out and blew some of her bangs from her face. This absolutely sucked. She couldn't stop thinking about him and how amazing he looked in that Anbu attire. Talia closed her gorgeous amber orbs and found herself daydreaming about him, in that tight, black spandex, her in nothing but her undergarments. How those beautifully toned muscles would feel against her own soft flesh. A shiver shot down her spine and she realized she was blushing from her small doze, and a bit uncomfortably hot between her legs.

"Damnit." She grumbled, getting up and walking out of the room. She was headed towards the restroom when she heard a familiar voice call out to her and she inwardly cursed. But she turned around with a smile and greeted the head of the hospital. "Hi Hayate-sama." She said normally enough. "What is it you need?"

The youngest Uchiha gave her a friendly smile. He looked eerily similar to his older brother Sanosuke, though more like a replica of the Sixth Hokage himself, with forest green eyes and spiky black hair. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me in exam room seven in about five minutes." He said. "It's a new patient, and sometimes kids are more comfortable with a woman in the room. Mother figures and all." He laughed good-naturedly.

"Of course sir." She smiled, though it was a bit strained. The only downside to being Uchiha Hayate's head nurse/assistant was that he _always _asked her to do _everything_ for him. She didn't have a problem with that most of the time, but it was occurrences like this where he would just smile and wait for her to come with him that drove her mad. It was like some secret, nice guilt trip.

"Excellent." He clapped his hands together, rubbing them slightly. "Alright, I'll go grab their information and meet you there. I think Suzuka was checking them in…" he said a bit absentmindedly, his brow furrowing a bit as he looked past Talia. Then he smiled brightly. "Sano!" he waved as his elder brother walked over to them. "What brings you here? Are you injured?"

"No." Sanosuke said, stopping next to the ebony haired man. "I bring a message from mother." He announced, his gaze sliding over to Talia. "Hello, Talia. It is nice to see you again." He inclined his head slightly.

Talia just stared at the Uchiha, almost mortified. What was he doing _here_? "Why are you-" she blubbered. "How come…why _now_?" she demanded, a dark blush spreading across her cheeks, since the only thing she could do was replay her fantasy over and over in her head. It didn't help that he was in his jounin uniform, minus the vest, which was equally as tight as the Anbu ones.

Sanosuke actually looked visibly taken aback. "Excuse me?" he asked, confused.

The blonde sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation because her 'issue' was only becoming worse. "What are you doing here?" she clarified. "You never come to the hospital!"

"I have a message for Hayate." He repeated.

Hayate just blinked, looking between the two. "You guys know each other?" he asked. "How?"

"I saved her." the elder shrugged. "Because you were an _idiot_, and let her leave the village by herself." He scolded his younger brother, who gasped.

"Talia, you were attacked? Why didn't you tell me? Are you okay?" Hayate hugged her to him in an attempt to comfort her. "Did you get violated? Because if so, I will-" Sanosuke's hand covered his face then and shoved him off the stunned blonde as his other grabbed Talia's arm and brought her to his side.

"She's fine. I. Saved. Her." he said, annoyed at having to repeat himself.

The other man just laughed and scratched his cheek. "Oh, then I guess everything went well." He looked at Talia then, who was closer to his brother than he'd ever seen anyone that was not related to them. "Sano's pretty handy in a sticky situation, wouldn't you say?" he laughed once more, making the elder roll his eyes.

Unfortunately, Talia couldn't even register anything either of them said, because she was once again feeling just how hard Sanosuke's muscles were. Damnit, why was she such a feeble woman at times? She had to physically force herself not to touch his abs that were practically calling out to her. She could probably scrub laundry on that delicious washboard. "Huh?" the blonde blinked, finally registering that she was being spoken too.

"I said Sano's pretty good in a sticky situation." Hayate said once more, not minding repeating himself, unlike his brother.

The red returned to her face as she mistook his words. "Who said anything about being in a sticky situation with him! It's not like I would just go ahead and allow myself to be-" she stopped, seeing they were both a bit shocked and confused with her rant. Why wouldn't someone just put her out of her misery and kill her now? "If you'll excuse me…I need to go…and try to stop breathing." She hurried out and turned before running down the hall.

Both Uchihas stared after her, different amounts of confusion on their faces. "Huh." Hayate said, looking back at Sanosuke. "I wonder what got into her."

"With women, you never know." Sanosuke sighed, meeting his brother's identical gaze. "Anyways, mother wished for me to inform you that dinner tonight has been moved back an hour. Apparently, she and father took an extensive lunch break, so she needs to catch up on some work before going home."

He giggled. "Those two, always having playtime." He placed his hands on his hips and sighed, shaking his head. "Chichi and I would be like that, but her work is farther away from mine than mom and dad's are. And it's just not as convenient."

Sanosuke held up a hand. "Too much information." He said, turning and beginning to walk off. "Just be there at seven."

"Don't worry! I will!" the younger Uchiha waved after his brother, laughing as his elder disappeared in a swirl of sand. He just couldn't wait until family time. It was always full of fun.

* * *

Sanosuke let out a small sigh as he walked up to his parent's house. It wasn't that he didn't like family dinners, because he did, he just didn't like being around his siblings for extended periods of time. Not that he didn't love them, but something was bound to go wrong, as it always did, and he didn't want to deal with that tonight. He'd just gotten back from a long mission, and all he wanted to do was go over to his grandfather's home and play Go over a nice cup of tea. But that could wait until tomorrow.

At least it really was just the family this time, and not his siblings' other halves. Because when _they_ were over, things got even more rowdy. Not to mention he had to listen to cracks all night from his brother Noriaki about how he didn't have a girlfriend and was probably gay. He wasn't gay, he just couldn't stand women. They were all so annoying, and usually only after him for his name and money.

He didn't bother knocking on the door, instead he entered and slipped his shoes off, pleased to see that he was the first one to arrive. Hayate was probably finishing up at the hospital, and his father at the Hokage Tower, and who knew what his older siblings were doing. Sensing his mother in the kitchen, he headed that way. A small smile came to his face as he saw the pink haired woman flitting about the kitchen preparing their meal for the night. The Uchiha matriarch had short pink locks and light jade eyes, both traits he did not inherit. She was a slender woman, despite having five kids, and still extremely attractive, given her age. Something _nobody_ mentioned unless they wanted to die.

"Hi Mom." He said softly, entering the kitchen. "Do you want some help?"

"Oh hi Sanosuke!" Natsumi beamed, glancing back and acknowledging her son. "No thanks sweetie. I'm almost done, unless you want to take the ribs out of the oven."

"Of course." He said, walking over and putting on the oven mitts before taking out the large rack of ribs and setting it on the hot pads on the counter. "Is the table set?" he asked, looking over at her.

"Mhm." She nodded, fixing up the dishes. "Kanamé came over and set it for me. He actually just left to go get Vitani." She said without thinking, beginning to put away all her excess ingredients.

Sanosuke froze, his eyes widening slightly. "What?" he asked, feeling his muscles slowly begin to tense. "Why is she coming?"

The pink haired woman seemed to have realized her blunder and let out an awkward laugh. "Well sweetheart, she _is_ an Uchiha after all. It's your brother's wife." Natsumi explained as if she needed to, but kept busy with her task. They both heard the door open and Sanosuke's eyes narrowed.

"Mom!" they heard a familiar, antagonistic voice. "Hikari and I are here and we brought cake." Noriaki yelled, even though he was walking into the kitchen. "Oh hey Sano." The triplet smirked, catching his brother in a sleeper hold before he could escape and giving him a hard noogie. "What's up with you little man?" he snickered.

Sanosuke growled and shoved his elder off, glaring at him before looking at his mom. "Mother!" he whispered harshly, clearly displeased. He only ever called her mother to her face whenever he was so. "Why wouldn't you tell me of this? I don't want them here!"

"Oh quit being so reclusive, it's not healthy." Hikari sighed as she walked into the kitchen, a delicious looking cake in her hands. She smiled then. "Hello Natsumi-sama. Thank you for inviting me over."

The young Uchiha looked like he was going to have a heart attack. "_You_ invited them?" he pointed at the pink haired woman.

"Sweetie." Natsumi said as innocently as she could. "Hikari is practically part of the family, I had to invite her." She looked wounded then. "You just get so angsty when everyone is over sometimes you don't show, and it hurts my feelings you don't want to spend time with me and the family."

He crossed his arms, knowing what she was going for. "I want to spend time with you." he huffed. "I just don't see why _they_ have to come." He said, meaning everyone who was not an Uchiha, at least in his book.

Hikari set the cake down on the counter before walking over to her boyfriend and wrapping her arm around his waist. "It always amuses me to watch him freak out like this." she chuckled, looking up at Noriaki with laughing violet eyes.

"I know. And it's like he actually expects everyone not to come _every _time." Noriaki smirked. "Tell me Sano, when exactly was the last time we had a meal where you were told 'Uchihas only' and it turned out to not be everyone? Huh?"

Sanosuke sent his brother a glare, not bothering to humor his elder. Because truthfully, every time he thought it was only going to be him and his family, the others _always_ tagged along.

They all heard the door once more and were then joined in the kitchen with a gorgeous dark haired woman with sparkling jade eyes. "Hi everyone." She smiled, leaning against the white haired man next to her. He nodded to the others, his grey eyes scanning the guests so far.

"We brought some bread Mom." She said, offering the pink haired woman the loaf.

"Thank you Izayoi." Natsumi smiled, kissing her daughter's forehead. "Why don't you all relax in the living room while we wait for everyone else so we can eat."

Before they could acquiesce to their mother's request, the door opened once more and in walked Kanamé and his wife, a brunette haired woman with aquamarine eyes. "I made a salad everyone!" Vitani smiled, holding out the bowl for all in the kitchen to see. It was no secret that the current Mizukage's daughter had no clue when it came to cooking, despite how intelligent she was.

Hikari looked at it and raised a brow. "Really? All by yourself?"

The brunette blushed slightly. "Well…Kanamé put it all together. I just handed him the ingredients…" she admitted sheepishly.

Kanamé laughed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "She burned the first one."

"How do you burn a salad?" Kai asked, puzzled.

"The details are extraneous." Kanamé said simply, taking the bowl from his wife and handing it to his mother.

Natsumi smiled and began to take things into the dining room. "Well that just leaves Hayate, Chitose, and your father and Sasuke, and we can eat." She beamed, coming back in.

Almost as if on cue, Hayate burst through the door with a pretty dark haired brunette behind him, her sapphire eyes twinkling with amusement. "Everyone! You'll never guess what! I'm pretty sure Sanosuke flirted with a girl!" the youngest of the siblings exclaimed.

Sanosuke actually looked mortified. "I did not! You have _no_ proof, and we will _not_ discuss it!" he said, pushing past everyone to leave the kitchen.

Natsumi stared after her son and then back to Hayate. "What are you talking about Hayate?"

"My head nurse." The young man smirked, though it was nothing but happiness. "He saved her, flirted with her, and today I could tell because Sano let her stand _super_ close to him. She told me the whole story while we underwent surgery."

"No fucking way." Noriaki grinned, glancing out the window and catching a glimpse of his father. He threw the window open and leaned out. "Dad! Guess what! Sano's not gay! He likes sopping wet pussy instead of a hard cock in his ass!"

"Noriaki!" Izayoi huffed, her face a little red from the image. "Don't say things like that!"

Hearing this, Sanosuke ran back into the room and shoved Noriaki out the window, closing it before his elder could react. He turned around then and gave everyone a hard look, the pink on his cheeks not going unnoticed. "This is why I don't show on occasion." He told Natsumi harshly, heading out of the room once more.

"Where are you going brother?" Hayate blinked.

"To get grandfather." Sanosuke said simply. "_Somebody_ needs to warn him, and it might as well be me." He said, going to the front door and sliding on his shoes, passing his father on his way out.

Akito entered the kitchen and scratched his head, obviously confused. "Did I miss something?" he asked, glancing to the doorway when Noriaki re-entered, picking leaves from the bushes out of his hair.

"Apparently…" Kanamé began, shifting his gaze from his triplet to Hayate. "According to Hayate, Sano likes a girl."

"Fucking dick." Noriaki muttered, finally getting all the debris out.

"Huh." Akito blinked. "Well whaddaya know."

* * *

Sanosuke knocked on his grandfather's door, a scowl set on his features. Stupid Hayate and his stupid, big mouth. And stupid Noriaki and his overall stupidity. God how he hated their idiocy. It wasn't long before his grandfather opened the door, a blank expression on his façade. His ebony hair had faded over the years, though it was not yet grey, and his charcoal-like eyes had dulled a bit.

"Sanosuke." he said. "I was about to head over for dinner."

"I just came to inform you that mother has decided to invite everyone to dinner, yet again. And that Noriaki is in an even more asshole mood than usual." The younger man said.

Sasuke's gaze narrowed and his lips thinned in his displeasure. "Damn." He muttered. "Tell your mother that I cannot make it." he said suddenly.

Sanosuke blinked. "Why?"

"I'm sick." He stated.

"No you're not."

"Yes I am. I'm sick of those people." The elder said, meaning his grandchildren's significant others. "It's a legitimate excuse. I'll come over for dinner next time. I have plenty of leftovers to eat."

He sighed. "Grandfather, you know that will only invoke mother's wrath, and she will storm over here and drag you to dinner while chewing your ear off. That, and I refuse to suffer alone."

Sasuke's gaze narrowed even further. "Bastard."

He smirked. "I learned from the best." He said as his elder left his house and closed the door. They began to walk back to Natsumi and Akito's house then. "Oh…I should tell you, that if anything is said about me and some woman, pay no heed to it." he said, glancing at his grandfather. "They're all lies."

Sasuke smirked. "Of course they are. You would never require a woman to be happy, unlike your brothers."

"…right." Sanosuke said softly, looking to the ground.

When they arrived back at the family house, everyone was already gathered around the table, waiting for the last two to arrive before eating. Sasuke's face was blank once again, though it was clear that he wasn't happy with the situation, and Sanosuke's nearly mirrored it. He'd had plenty of time on the walk back to his parent's house to calm down and collect himself, so that when the grilling eventually did begin, he would be prepared for it.

The meal began in silence, Noriaki glaring at Sanosuke from across the table, Vitani paying attention to nothing but her food, Chitose and Hayate were in their own little corner, feeding one another and laughing softly. "So…" Natsumi said, glancing over at Sanosuke as she ate some salad. The dark haired boy frowned. Here it comes. "Are we ever going to meet this…um, Talia person?"

And so it began.

"Why would you mother?" Noriaki scoffed, stabbing his steak with his fork. "What girl would like an emotionless, heartless bastard like Sano. He doesn't give a crap about anyone but grandfather."

Izayoi kicked her brother from under the table. "Stop being mean! Any girl would like Sanosuke. He's cute and bright and strong. I want to meet her, I heard she was blonde."

Chitose nodded. "She's got pretty eyes that are like the color of golden honey." She chimed in. "She's super nice too, always helping out my sweet Hayate." The brunette giggled, nuzzling her husband affectionately. "I love you so much." She told him sweetly.

"I love you too Chichi." Hayate beamed, kissing the tip of her nose.

Sanosuke scoffed. "That right there is a clear example of why I would never bring _anyone_ over here to meet you. And I already said that I do not like her. I saved her from some rogues, and brought her back to the village. Today I saw her for maybe a minute, and even then I barely spoke to her. And that is all. So it doesn't matter." He said, shoving a forkful of salad into his mouth.

Akito smirked. "It kinda sounds like it does." He said, cutting the meat off of his ribs so that he could eat them without getting too messy.

"It doesn't." the young man reiterated through his mouthful of food.

"You saved her?" Natsumi asked, practically glowing. "Like a prince saving his princess!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "No…" he said stiffly.

"You should ask her out." Hikari spoke up. "You really need to get laid. It would loosen you up completely."

Hayate nodded, smiling. "It really does a great number on sore muscles. Especially if you massage one another as foreplay. That gets you limber for the main event."

Kai smirked. "And covers their bodies in oil, making their skin look all sleek and shiny. Just be sure you get edible kind." He advised. "Because Iza and I didn't really think that through our first go around, and let me tell you, that shit tastes nasty." He laughed.

Every single Uchiha male turned their crimson gazes to Kai in that moment. Izayoi simply smiled and pat her husband's leg. "I thought we talked about not saying anything we did in the privacy of our bedroom in front of my family." She sighed, opening her own deadly sharingan and glaring at them all as a warning.

"Well what else do they think we do?" he asked, gesturing to them all with his hand. "We're married."

"That doesn't mean we want to hear it." Akito glared.

"_Any_ of it." Sasuke said, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Sanosuke deactivated his sharingan and returned his attention to his meal. "Well I don't need, nor want any of your advice." He said.

"Well…" Noriaki spoke up, and everyone shut their mouths because he sounded sincere, which was rare. "I think you should just talk to her and see what happens." He said, continuing to eat. "Because _despite_ what grandfather says, you're not him, you are mom's boy. You will never be happy just by yourself, I can assure you."

"But I am happy." The younger man said, making Hikari roll her eyes.

"If this is you being happy, I'd hate to see you when you're ecstatic." She said, though not in a rude way. "Listen to Nori on this one. It's not often he says mushy stuff like this." she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Vitani looked at her brother-in-law. "I know you're not the most social person…but sometimes being awkward around a girl is cute, and it shows her that you really like her." she smiled slightly. "And vice versa. You can't let the small stuff get in the way of your happiness, or hers."

Kanamé nodded with his wife. "Awkwardness is good. You should have seen Vitani at first. She was so cute." He smiled, making her blush.

"So was Izayoi." Kai said. "You just gotta learn to go with the flow on some things. Being all…well spazzing out like you do on occasion is just not something she should see before actually like-liking you." he chuckled.

"I do not spazz out." Sanosuke huffed.

Natsumi giggled. "Yes you do sweetie. In fact, you had one in the kitchen about thirty minutes ago." She pointed out.

He crossed his arms in a slight pout. "Whatever."

"You get that from your father." Sasuke said as he ate his food. "I tried to knock that habit out of him, but as you can see, he still acts like a freak from time to time."

"Hey." Akito frowned. "She spazzes too." He pointed to Natsumi with his fork.

Natsumi simply laughed. "Darling, I do not spazz…I have psychotic episodes and/or mental breaks and we all know which child got that from me."

Everyone looked to Noriaki in that moment. The dark haired man was too absorbed in eating his ribs until he glanced up. "You can all go to hell." He muffled out, tearing off another chunk of meat.

"Don't worry baby, I still love you." Hikari pat his leg under the table.

"I love you too Nori!" Hayate smiled down the table at his elder brother.

"Yeah, yeah." the man grumbled. "Love you too." he said almost incoherently.

Sanosuke simply held in a sigh and returned to his food. Silence fell over the table once again, though Hayate and Natsumi would glance around at everyone every few seconds. They locked gazes then, and Hayate smiled, the look turning mischievous as it slid over to Sanosuke. "You know Sano, I'm taking Talia out to lunch tomorrow as a thank you gesture, and Chitose is meeting us there. You could tag along and make it a double date." He wagged his eyebrows at him.

The older man set his glass of water down harshly. "No. So stop bringing it up."

"Awww..." Natsumi frowned. "How come sweetie?"

This time it was Noriaki who slammed his hand on the table and silenced them all. "Just drop it already and leave the matter alone. He doesn't want you guys' pathetic help or advise." he said a bit angrily. "If he wants to be alone and miserable later in life then let him. It's pointless to argue a hopeless cause."

Sanosuke tossed his fork onto his plate and stood abruptly. "I'm going home." He announced, beginning to walk away from the table. "Thank you for dinner mother." He said over his shoulder, before leaving the house, slamming the door behind him.

He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked down the street towards his house, which was set off away from the rest of his family's. Why couldn't they understand that he didn't want their help? It wasn't that he didn't like Talia, he did…sort of. She was interesting, and a part of him wanted to try and get to know her. But he was tired of them thinking they knew what was best for him. If anyone knew, _he_ did. Not his siblings, not his father, not his mother…well…_maybe_ his mother, but sometimes, not even his grandfather. Because despite what he showed everyone, Sanosuke did get lonely sometimes. He'd even considered getting a pet, though what it would be he had no idea. And now that he thought about it, having a woman didn't sound _too_ bad. At least then he would get to have sex with her. He just needed to find someone that he could put up with, and vice versa. And it seemed like Talia could be a potential mate for him.

But if he was going to pursue her, it would be by his own means, at his own pace. He never went for anything until he was sure it was going to work, after all, and so he would need to have a few small encounters with the blonde woman first before deciding whether or not she was worth pursuing. Because he wasn't going to go into this thing halfway and then back out, that just wasn't his style. Not to mention it would have been a waste of his time, and hers.

Entering his home, he went straight for his room and flopped on the bed, slowly sinking into the soft mattress. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. His first order of business would be to figure out where Hayate was taking Talia for lunch tomorrow, and plan his entrance accordingly. He smirked into his sheets. She did look so cute when she was flustered, after all.


	3. Fortune

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter Three_

-Fortune-

Sanosuke walked down the streets of Konoha in search of the restaurant his brother would be eating at. He didn't actually know what it was called, and so he'd been wandering around asking each host if his brother had a reservation there or not. So far, he'd had no such luck.

He hit something then, and hearing a soft exhale, knew it to be a woman, and reached out to steady whoever it was. "Sorry." He looked down and saw a head of golden blonde hair and blinked. There was no way he was this fortunate.

Talia stared wide eyed up at the Uchiha before she finally registered it was actually him. "Oh hi Sanosuke." She smiled. She was wearing a navy blue dress with thick straps over her shoulders that stopped just above her knees. Underneath she had on a white long sleeve shirt that cut horizontally across so it didn't cover the small amount of cleavage that was showing.

"Hello…" he couldn't help but glance down her dress, before looking back up into her eyes. It was then he realized he was still holding on to her, and so quickly released her. "Talia. Forgive me for being so rude, I was distracted."

"Oh it's no problem at all." she replied sweetly with a small shrug. "I wasn't paying too much attention either. Anyways, I was just on my way to lunch with your brother and Chitose." Then she seemed to remember the large white box in her hand. "Oh! This must be fate or something." she laughed, offering him the box. "I made these for you. Since I didn't properly thank you for saving my life...and then I kinda freaked out at the hospital yesterday." she sighed, pushing it into his hands. "Anyways...I know your mom is some goddess chef, but I hope you like them."

The corner of his mouth tilted up in a small smile as he opened the box and took a look at what she had made him. "They look wonderful, thank you." he said, meeting her gaze once more. "I will enjoy them greatly."

Talia smiled. "I sure hope so. My mother was a terrible cook, but she always said the best way to a man's heart was through his stomach, so I learned very well. Especially since she attracted a horrid man." She shivered and then went wide eyed as she blushed. "Not that I'm trying to wiggle my way into your heart or anything, I just thought you might like them cause' I'm good at making cookies." She blabbered on, only turning redder.

Sanosuke chuckled and placed his finger over her lips, halting her ranting immediately. "Talia, it's okay." He said. "You are too kind to be the type of woman who would try that. Besides, food is not the way to my heart, just so you know."

"Is it sex?" she mumbled from beneath his finger.

His eyes visibly widened, and he blinked. "Um…no."

"Then what is it?" she asked curiously.

He smirked. "Genuine cuteness." He told her. "Not to mention I have a bit of a weakness for blondes, so you're pretty much at the door."

Talia's blush turned an unhealthy color. "Um…r-really…?" she asked, wishing she had some ice water to throw in her face. Luckily, she pulled herself from her idiotic stupor and laughed, too loudly. "Well, I should probably get going." She waved, backing away. "I'm late already."

"I'll go with you." he said, moving forward and walking next to her. "Hayate invited me to lunch with you anyways, but I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it."

Her eyes widened slightly, mostly from nervousness. "Um…oh. Okay." She nodded, walking alongside the Uchiha. They didn't talk as they headed towards the restaurant, but it wasn't uncomfortable, Talia just didn't know what to say.

Eventually they came upon the restaurant that Hayate had picked for lunch, and Sanosuke held the door open for the blonde. They entered, and before they could even ask the host to seat them, they heard a loud voice.

"Talia! Sano! Over here!" Hayate yelled off in the left wing of the establishment, waving at the two. Sitting next to him was Chitose, a happy smile on her face. Sanosuke placed his hand on the small of Talia's back and nudged her forward, leading her to the table.

"Hello Hayate-sama." Talia greeted, nodding to the two of them. "Thanks so much for inviting me out to lunch. I didn't realize Sanosuke was coming too." She chuckled nervously, pushing some of her hair behind her ear.

"Well he wasn't originally." Hayate said. "Cause' when I asked him last night, he got all defen-"

"I had to check my schedule." Sanosuke said, giving his little brother a hard look as he pulled out a chair for Talia. "Turns out I was free."

The blonde sat down, "Thank you." she smoothed out her dress and scooted up, looking down at the table. This was so weird. He was being abnormally nice and all of a sudden everywhere she was.

"So Sano," Chitose giggled, looking between the two. "What really made you change your mind about coming? Last night you were so apprehensive."

Sanosuke sat down, placing the box of cookies Talia had made him off to the side. "Well, it's rare that I have this much free time, so I thought I would spend it with you guys. Not to mention you were so adamant about me coming so that Talia had a date."

Chitose went wide eyed and Hayate actually gave his brother a small glare. "A what?" Talia asked, confusion marring her brow as she looked between the group.

The elder Uchiha didn't really catch on to his faux pas, and looked down at her. "A date." He repeated. "They said it could be like a double date."

"Yeah, _like_ a double date Sano." Hayate said, his tone harder than it normally was. "Not a real one."

He blinked. "Oh."

Talia remained silent as she stared at the table before she got up and turned her back to the group. "I'm leaving." She said in a clipped tone. "Thanks for the invite, but I'm just going to go." She said, leaving the restaurant. Chitose threw her napkin in Sanosuke's face.

"For a smart guy you're really, _really_ stupid!" she huffed. "Girls don't like to feel tricked. Now we look like we have some kind of agenda we're forcing on everyone."

Sanosuke glared at the brunette woman. "That was the impression that I got last night, so _excuse_ me." He backed away from the table and grabbed his box of cookies as he went after the blonde. "Talia." He said, catching up to her in no time. "I'm sorry. Please don't leave because of what I said."

"I'm not leaving because of what you said." she huffed, not bothering to slow in her pace. "I just hate that kind of crap. Hayate said he wanted to take me out to lunch to repay me for going to get those herbs and now apparently I was the highlight of the conversation at your chaotic family gathering."

"Well he wasn't lying about taking you out to repay you." he said, walking alongside her. "And the only reason you were the highlight of our conversation last night is because…well…you're the only woman that's ever…interested me…before." He admitted, scratching the back of his head and looking off in his discomfort. "And so Hayate invited me to lunch with you guys to give me the opportunity to attempt to get to know you better. Since he knows that I'm not very good with social things. He was only trying to help me out, it had nothing to do with tricking you at all. I promise."

The blonde sighed but then stopped, a shocked expression coming to her face. "You're interested in me?" she asked, looking up at him, their eyes locking as a long silence stretched between them.

Sanosuke blinked. "…yes." He said, a hint of pink coming to his cheeks that normally nobody would ever see there.

"Really?" she breathed out. "Well I…um, I guess I'm interested in you too." She laughed, hoping she didn't sound too weird since she had really wanted to tell him she liked him.

He smiled slightly at her admission. This was good. Now all he had to do was see if he really did like her, and then win her over somehow into liking him. "So…do you want to go back in there and have lunch?" he asked, pointing at the restaurant.

"Not really."

"Oh." A somewhat lost look came to his eyes as he lowered his arm. He wasn't really sure what to do. Did this mean she wanted him to leave her alone? Or just that she was no longer hungry? Or maybe, she didn't want to share the company of Hayate and Chitose. He scratched his head. Why did things involving women get to be so complicated? "Then…would you like to join me for lunch at a different establishment?"

Talia smiled, "Only if you don't mind. But I am starving." She said with a small shrug, lacing her fingers together.

He placed his hand on the small of her back and began to lead her off to his favorite restaurant. "If I minded then I wouldn't have asked." he said simply, surprisingly not sounding as condescending as he usually did. "Besides, you _were_ promised to be treated to lunch by an Uchiha, and at least this way we can call it a date." He smirked, glancing down at her. "If you want."

"No objection here." The blonde giggled, doing her best not to start hyperventilating. It would not do well to freak out now. She had to play it cool.

"Excellent." He smiled fully then, and Talia's heart stopped momentarily at how beautiful it was. They walked off then, both hoping they didn't say or do anything to mess up their official first date.


	4. Tail

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter Four_

-Tail-

Hikari sighed happily as she left the shop, her bag of purchased items in tow. "I love buying new clothes to show off to Noriaki." She smiled over at the brunette with her, who rolled her eyes.

"You mean you love buying things for Noriaki to rip off of you." Vitani smirked. "I don't really see the point, if you're just gonna have to go and buy more."

The pale haired woman shrugged. "It just means I get to go shopping again. Besides, he doesn't rip them all off. The ones we really like we preserve for future occasions."

"You two are terrible." Vitani shook her head.

"You're saying if Kanamé ripped your clothes off you wouldn't love it?" Hikari smirked, raising a delicate brow.

A blush came to the younger woman's face. "Well…he did do it once…or twice. I think he really likes it when I wear red outfits for him. That seems to be the common denominator."

Hikari snickered. "See! It's fucking sexy when they just get all animal-like and dominating."

Vitani's blush darkened to an almost unhealthy color at the visual she was getting of her husband. "Can we talk about something else now?" she nearly whispered.

"Yeah yeah. Prude." She chuckled, waving off her friend's embarrassment. She looked down the street to see if there was anything else she wanted to buy, and blinked when she saw a blonde woman walk out of a local grocery store. When the woman turned and began to walk towards them, Hikari noticed her amber eyes, and gasped. She grabbed Vitani's arm and dragged her off.

"Hikari! What's gotten into you?!" Vitani asked, looking around in slight alarm.

"Sh!" Hikari said. "Look, there's Talia." She pointed at the oblivious blonde, who was now browsing some of the street vendors.

Vitani followed her friend's finger, and her eyes widened. "It is!" she looked back at the pale haired woman. "Should we follow her? Maybe we can learn some stuff about her to help Sanosuke out."

"I just wanna stalk her and see what she's all about." The violet-eyed woman said. When Talia turned down a different street the two women rushed after her, intent on following her trail.

Talia looked around, admiring a few crystal statues. She headed off once more, before catching something from the corner of her eye. Now she'd been followed before, so she knew the tactics, and these two were definitely up to something. That was when she noticed one of them had white hair. She continued walking, her brows knit together in confusion. Why was Sanosuke's brother's girlfriend following her? Not to mention she was pretty sure the brunette with her was the Hokage-to-be's wife.

Hikari peeked around a vendor stand and watched as Talia continued to browse. "Well, we know she has good taste." She whispered to her companion.

"And why is taste such a big deal? Shouldn't we care more about whether or not she's good enough for Sano?" Vitani asked.

"Please." She scoffed. "Every Uchiha has good taste. So she's now passed the good taste test."

"The…good taste test?" the brunette raised a brow. "Man, you're lucky you have huge breasts, cause' I don't know how Noriaki stands you." she shook her head.

Hikari hit her in the arm. "Oh shut up." She said, before grabbing her friend's arm. "Look, there she goes! We can't lose her!" she said, and they resumed following her around the marketplace. She turned a corner then and disappeared from their sights. Hikari cursed once more and rushed forward, Vitani close after her. But when they came to the street, Talia was gone. The white haired woman blinked, searching around. "What the heck? Where did she go?"

"Do you guys make a habit out of stalking other people? Cause' technically that's harassment." Someone said from behind them, making both girls jump. They turned to see none other than Talia behind them, clearly not pleased with being followed.

Vitani pointed to her friend. "It was her idea." She said, earning another hit.

"Way to go Vitani, now she thinks I'm a freak." Hikari huffed, crossing her arms.

The brunette gave her a nonplussed look. "I'm pretty sure she already thinks we're _both_ freaks." She pointed out, before smiling at Talia. "Sorry about that. We heard that Sanosuke liked you, and were curious. But we didn't want to just come up and talk to you out of the blue, because that might have freaked you out."

"And stalking seemed more interesting." The other woman said.

"So you thought that following me was less weird than just introducing yourselves?" Talia wondered, arching a curious brow.

Hikari laughed a bit awkwardly. "Well…we didn't actually think you would catch on." She admitted, scratching her cheek in her embarrassment.

Vitani nodded in agreement. "Though, if we weren't walking around with our shopping bags we'd probably have done a better job at being inconspicuous."

The blonde shrugged. "Whatever you say." She said simply. They stared at each other for a while before Talia started to look annoyed. "Well what do you want?" she demanded.

Vitani tried not to laugh. "Man she's just like Sano."

"I still think he's more of an ass." She snickered. "So Talia, since you found us out, do you want to keep shopping with us?" she asked. "We've heard a lot about you from Hayate, and if you were able to catch Sano's eye, then you must be some woman." She gave the blonde a friendly smile.

"Not to mention it'd be nice to have another woman amongst all those men." the aqua eyed woman said, smiling as well.

Talia looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well I'm really done for the day. And I'm just regular. I honestly don't know why he is interested in me."

Vitani raised a brow. "You mean you haven't asked him yet? When Kanamé became interested in me I didn't understand why, and so I asked him. It helps knowing the answer. Right Hikari?"

The pale haired woman shrugged. "Like I needed to ask. I have a rockin' body and I'm great in bed. Of course Noriaki loves me." She said, clearly pleased with herself.

Talia deflated a bit. "Yeah well I didn't nor do I want to ask. He'll probably just say he doesn't know. I'm not a ninja, I'm just average. Average height. Average breast size. I mean…I'm a nurse…"

"Well that's a plus." Hikari pointed out. "You can dress up in a sexy nurse's uniform and seduce him." she winked.

Vitani rolled her eyes. "What she _means_ is that you have something in common with him." she said, trying to help. "Because he knows medical jutsu and stuff, and you know things about natural medicine."

"Because _that's_ what I want to have in common." She sighed, waving them off. "Well anyways. I'm going to go now."

"No! You have to join us for dinner tonight." Vitani smiled.

Hikari smiled. "Yeah, I know Kanamé and Noriaki would like to meet you as well. And it will be fun. Besides, since you're kinda dating Sano, it would help if you got to know his family."

"I dunno…" she frowned. "Sanosuke said to avoid his family for as long as possible."

"That's just because he's an antisocial recluse dear." Hikari said endearingly. "And he doesn't want you to hear anything embarrassing about him."

"And there's a lot." Vitani laughed. "Sano has these weird spazz attacks sometimes when he's really flustered or upset…apparently he's had them his whole life."

Hikari snickered. "And they're _so_ funny to see."

"But-" Talia tried to protest.

"We'll help you home!" they said, giggling as they pulled the blonde down the street. "We'll cook everything and it will be so fun!" Vitani breathed out, looking happy.

Hikari nodded. "No need to worry Talia, we have everything covered."

* * *

Talia sat in the living room of the eldest Uchiha child's house. She looked around with slight curiosity. She'd never been to the Uchiha district before, and despite her attempts to get out of the meal, she was excited to meet the two eldest children of her Hokage.

The house was a very quaint one, not overly decorated as she would have thought a wealthy person's home to be, especially not one of two Kage's children. All of the furniture was very nice though, but the entire feel of the place was one of simplicity, and serenity. There were a lot of books on the shelves in the living room, and Talia guessed that this was only a sample of the many the two owned. It was no secret that both enjoyed reading, after all. As well as books, there were pictures on the shelves, mostly of family of course, and some of people she didn't recognize. She just assumed they were Vitani's family back in Kirigakure.

She heard a small explosion come from the kitchen then, followed by a shout. "God Vitani! I just wanted you to slice the vegetables! Not melt them!"

"I'm sorry! They looked kinda funny, so I thought heating them up in the microwave would help!"

"It would _help_ if you'd just get out of the kitchen and let me finish cooking." Hikari said, pushing the brunette into the living room, smoke following after them. "Keep Talia company. It shouldn't be too much longer." she instructed before returning to the kitchen to fix her friend's blunder.

Vitani pouted and sat across from the blonde. "Man, now Kanamé and I have to get _another_ microwave." She sighed.

"You're really bad at cooking aren't you?" Talia asked, her expression not even changing. She could already tell, because the brunette acted just like her mom used to.

"So, _so_ bad." Vitani laughed slightly. "It was intimidating at first, when Kanamé and I began to get serious, to be the only one that couldn't cook." She smiled then. "But Kanamé thinks it's cute that I still try. He even lets me help him sometimes. Just the small stuff. I helped make a beautiful salad the other day, so we took a picture of it to put on our scrapbook of the things I haven't destroyed." she giggled. "It was his idea."

Talia smiled, that was absolutely adorable. "You guys must really love each other a lot. Plan on having kids anytime soon?"

She shrugged. "We haven't really talked about it. I mean, we'd both like to have kids some day, but it's not a huge issue." She said. "So as it is, I guess you could say we're waiting to be surprised." She smiled.

"That must be nice." She giggled. "He seems really kind."

Vitani nodded, but before anything more could be said, the front door slid open. "Vitani!" Kanamé called. "I'm home." He announced and then they heard rushed steps. "Sweetheart! I thought we talked about you cooking by yourself!" he called, sliding to a stop in the living room, a bouquet of purple lilacs in his hand. Kanamé blinked, taking in the scene. "Um…hello." He said, his gaze falling on Talia. "Wait." He sighed with relief, "Okay, Hikari's in the kitchen."

The brunette haired woman smiled and got up from her seat, going over to her husband. "Of course I'm not alone in the kitchen honey." She kissed him sweetly. "I know the rules." Then she looked at the lilacs. "Are these for me?" she asked, looking up at him with hopeful aqua eyes.

"Yeah."He smiled, offering her the flowers. Kanamé looked around his wife before kissing her forehead. "So who's our guest?"

"This is Talia." Vitani said, taking the flowers and smelling them. "You know, Sano's new girlfriend." She looked up at the blonde. "Talia, this is my husband, Kanamé."

"Oh." He said, looking quite surprised. Talia got up as Kanamé came over and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Talia, we've heard loads from Hayate about you, since Sano doesn't seem to want us in his business." He chuckled, making the blonde smile.

"Nice to meet you too." She said. Looking between the two, she couldn't help but be a little jealous. It didn't seem that Sanosuke would ever be that adamant with his affection.

Vitani walked over and placed her hand on her husband's arm. "Dear, why don't you keep Talia company while I put these in some water?" she kissed his cheek. "You guys can get to know one another." She smiled, before going towards the kitchen and leaving the two alone.

Kanamé nodded and watched his wife leave the room. He sat down with Talia as she took back her spot on the couch. "So you work in the hospital with my brother Hayate?"

The blonde coincided. "I usually assist him in surgeries and cases where he needs a good extra pair of hands." She explained.

"Interesting, I've dabbled in healing for a bit, but it seemed not to be my strong point. I can heal just fine for myself and others to patch them up, but nothing like my brother and aunt. It's amazing what they can do."

"It really is. I am in utter awe of that man. Plus he's so nice and caring about everyone. I used to have a little crush on him when I first started, but he loves Chitose so much it's hard to even think of them as anything but perfect." Talia giggled. "Though, I think he was a bit too nice for me anyways. Sometimes I don't know how he doesn't get mad."

"It really is a mystery." Kanamé chuckled.

They were content to just sit with one another, but they heard the front door slam open. "Hikari! Where the fuck are you!" they all heard yelled from the front.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Hikari shouted back.

"Why aren't you in _my _kitchen!" a man stormed in, stopping at the sight. His pale jade depths landed straight on Talia, and an evil smirk made its way to his face. "Oh no…" he chuckled and then looked around. "She's here? And Sano isn't?"

"We invited her over for dinner!" the pale haired woman called.

Vitani came out of the kitchen then, and seeing the look on her brother-in-law's face, she pointed at him. "Nori, be nice to her. I won't have you scaring her off before Sano can get the chance to date her." she said sternly.

"He had two dates with her already!" the triplet exclaimed, walking over and plopping down on the other side of Talia. "So…I hope you know that Sanosuke's a virgin and has no experience whatsoever in the sack."

Talia turned a dark red, trying not to let the comment affect her too much. But she honestly couldn't believe he had never even used a woman for her body yet. "Well I-"

"Noriaki!" Kanamé scolded.

"What?! He hasn't." he laughed, wrapping an arm around the blonde's shoulders. "He also is a little bit of a freak and a spazz. Also a perfectionist. I mean, no disrespect to you or anything, but I honestly don't know how he'd be interested in a civilian. He's all about training and strength, and you're average. Hot," he said, giving her a once over. "But average."

Talia glanced down, now extremely uncomfortable since she was trapped between the males and fiddled nervously with her fingers. "Well, I…um…" she sighed.

"Noriaki!" Hikari's angry voice said. The violet eyed woman stomped into the living room, a wooden spoon in her hand. "Don't make me shove this up your ass. Because I will." She threatened with narrowed eyes, pointing the object at him.

"Baby, none of your threats affect me. I'd have you on your knees and be behind you before you could even reach my pants with your sweet little hand." He smirked.

Talia shook her head and started to stand. "Maybe I should just go…"

"Nonsense!" Noriaki smirked, pulling her back down. "I _have_ to find out why you are so captivating."

The blonde let out a tired breath. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Sanosuke let out a slow, even breath as he carefully went through his katas. He could perform them a lot quicker, of course, but by doing them slowly it helped him gain more control over his body. And bodily control was very important when being a ninja. At least, that was what his grandfather had always taught him, and the oldest Uchiha had yet to be wrong. He usually went through this series of exercises to help clear his mind, but thus far, all he'd been able to do was clear his mind of every thought but Talia.

She was something else. They'd been out twice, and he couldn't wait for the next time. Her view on things was fresh and interesting, and some of the words she used made no sense at all to him, but coming from her sounded like a word everybody should use. And he liked that she was a civilian, because she was normal. And in his chaotic life, a sense of normalcy was more than welcome. Her golden hair shined so beautifully in the light, and the way the amber of her eyes sparkled when she found something amusing was simply enchanting. Not to mention that her laugh made him want to act like a fool just to hear it again, though he never would.

He let out a sigh as he slid gracefully into the next move. Thankfully enough she hadn't asked him about meeting the rest of his family yet. He wanted to lay some more groundwork with her before doing so. That way her chances of breaking off their relationship were less. He still didn't know how far he wanted this to go, but the thought of just going with it made it all the more interesting.

Finished with his first exercise of his training regimen, he was about to begin his weapons training when he felt his sister nearing. Sanosuke straightened and walked over to his patio to drink some water, knowing that if she were coming to visit him, it was for a reason. As if on cue, the air shimmered and sand swirled until a form took its place. The usual smile on her face was gone and her face was hard. "Sano. Are you aware of where your friend Talia is at this moment?"

His brow drew together in a small frown. "No. Is she in trouble?" he asked, feeling panic begin to swell in his chest.

"You could say that." The dark haired woman sighed. "She's at Kanamé's house…with Noriaki and their 'innocent' little wives."

Sanosuke's eyes widened. "What?" he breathed out. "I have to save her!" he said, using his speed to run out of his yard and over to his older brother's house. What was she doing there? He'd specifically told her not to hang out with any of them unless he was around. Did she want to be driven insane?!

When he arrived at Kanamé's house, he didn't even knock, instead bursting through the door and marching straight into the living room. And the sight that awaited him did not make things any better. There was Talia on the couch between his brothers, and Vitani was sitting in one of the chairs. Hikari, he assumed, was in the kitchen. But the worst part was that Noriaki's arm was wrapped around Talia's shoulders, and the poor blonde looked extremely uncomfortable. "What the hell is going on here?!" he asked, before pointing to Noriaki. "You! This was your idea, wasn't it?"

Every eye was on him then and Talia's gaze was practically screaming 'save me'. Noriaki scoffed, "Whoa little bro, take it down a few notches. This was far from my idea. I was looking for Hikari and found Talia over here with everyone. I just thought I would give her a little in depth summary on you." He smirked, which only made Sanosuke go red with rage.

But before the bomb could go off, Talia pointed at Vitani. "Hikari and Vitani stalked me like crazy people and practically kidnapped me."

Sanosuke's deadly glare moved to Vitani, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "It was Hikari's idea!" she squeaked, pointing to the kitchen. His gaze slid to the kitchen, and suddenly Sanosuke was gone.

"Holy shit!" Hikari screamed, before they all heard a loud clatter.

Almost every head popped into the kitchen, but Noriaki was in there in a second. There stood Sanosuke, not a foot away from the pale haired woman, who had her hand placed over her heart. On the floor was a mixing bowl and spoon, its contents spilled on the kitchen tile. "What is wrong with you?!" Hikari glared at the younger man. "You don't just sneak up on people while they're cooking! It's creepy!"

"As creepy as following Talia around the marketplace while she shopped?" he asked lowly, taking a measured step towards her. "And then kidnapping her? After I specifically told _all_ of you to stay out of my personal affairs."

She blinked, seeming to realize how angry she'd made him, and laughed awkwardly. "Well, you see Sano, we just wanted to meet her. And it was only polite to inv-"

"It would have been polite to mind your own business for once you nosy woman!" Sanosuke shouted, his eyes turning to their sharingan in his rage. Hikari's eyes widened in alarm, and she quickly scooted over to hide behind Noriaki for protection.

"Don't ever bare your sharingan at Hikari." Noriaki seethed, his own red gaze meeting his brother's. "Or I'll do worse to your little pet."

Talia deflated even more. If she learned one thing tonight it was that she really hated being around the middle triplet of the Uchihas. Sanosuke glared at his brother. "Well you would know about having a woman for a pet, wouldn't you Noriaki." He nearly spat the elder's name.

"She's not a pet if she can fight and defend herself like a real woman. You disgrace mother by even affiliating yourself with someone so trivial." Noriaki snapped. Talia looked down and pulled away from the doorway. Kanamé and Vitani looked after her as she walked off towards the front door.

"Um…" Kanamé began. "Sano-"

"Shut up Kanamé!" both brothers yelled, glaring at him and then back to each other.

Sanosuke pointed at his elder. "You think I disgrace mother? What do you think you're doing? Here you have a woman that cooks for you, cleans for you, _lives_ with you, and keeps up with your libido. But you haven't married her yet. Heck, you don't even like to talk about it." then he smirked darkly. "You're just like grandfather, using a woman for your own means as it suits your fancy."

Everyone's eyes widened at the comparison. Hikari, being right behind her love, saw him stiffen. "Noriaki…" she said softly, reaching forward to place her hand on his back to try and comfort him. But she touched air, because Noriaki had Sanosuke pinned up against the wall, his hand clasped around his throat.

"Don't you _ever_ compare me to the selfish, heartless bastard _ever_ again! I am nothing like him!" Noriaki screamed, making the smirk fall off Sanosuke's face, but not because he was scared. It was because he could see the small amount of water gathering in his brother's eyes. "Don't _ever_." He reiterated, disappearing in a swirl of sand, which in turn caused Sanosuke to land.

He stood and brushed himself off, his face grim as he deactivated his sharingan. "I have to go find him." Hikari said in a panicked whisper, turning and rushing out of the room.

"Talia, let's go." Sanosuke said, looking over to the doorway. He frowned when he didn't see her. "Where is she?"

"She left," Vitani sighed, watching Sanosuke disappear as well. "Just like everybody else." She looked up at her husband then. "Well, this was not how dinner was supposed to go."

"It never goes as planned sweetie." He sighed. "It was a nice thought, but you two really should have left Talia alone until Sanosuke was ready to introduce her himself. Now Noriaki is probably not going to turn up for a few days and Sanosuke will have nothing to do with us until my mother intervenes."

The brunette frowned. "I'm sorry. " She said, leaning against him. "Um…we need another microwave…" she trailed off, looking up at him with as innocent a face she could muster.

All the Uchiha did was sigh. "Alright. I'll pick one up tomorrow, but that means you are no longer allowed to use the appliances in the kitchen." He raised a finger to silence her protest. "Remember what I said, three strikes."

She pouted. "Okay." She said, before grabbing his hand. "Well then you finish dinner, and I'll clean up the mess." She smiled.

"Alright."

The two did so then, though both were worried about their previous guests. Because nothing good ever came of having multiple upset Uchihas. Nothing.


	5. Disquiet

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter Five_

-Disquiet-

Sanosuke threw another kunai at the target, hitting it dead center. It'd been three days since he'd fought with Noriaki. And since then he hadn't seen, nor heard from either him, or Talia. Noriaki he didn't care so much about, because he knew his brother would come back eventually. But Talia's absence was driving him crazy.

After he'd left Kanamé's to go and catch up with her, he'd been unable to find her. So he'd searched the village, even going so far as to break into her apartment. But she was nowhere to be seen. So the next day he had stopped by the hospital, but Hayate had said she hadn't come in to work. He'd filled his younger brother in about what had happened the other night, and the young Uchiha had promised that if he caught word about Talia, he would tell Sanosuke.

But so far he hadn't heard anything.

Every day since he'd searched the village, checked her apartment, and stopped by the hospital. And every day he still wound up with nothing. For a ninja of his caliber, it was really pathetic that he couldn't find a mere civilian.

He tossed another kunai at the post with a bit more force this time. Today he was training in the public grounds, hoping that maybe Talia would walk by and he would be able to finally speak with her and apologize. He wasn't sure what he would apologize for yet, but his father always said that when a woman was upset, usually it was your fault, and so it was best to say sorry before things got worse.

Sanosuke continued what he was doing for another hour or so, until he was out of weapons to throw. When he finished, he gathered all of his projectiles and put them back in his pouch on his hip, as well as his kunai holster around his right leg. Then he turned and began to head towards the hospital. It was about time he checked to see if Talia had come back yet. He knew she'd have to eventually, because she was paid hourly, and based on where she lived, she needed as much money as she could get. Not that Sanosuke judged her for it or anything. He was well aware of the fact that not everybody was as well off as his family.

When he entered the hospital, he went right up to the receptionist. Before he could even ask his question, she pointed off to the right hallway. "Hayate-sama is in exam room 23." She said. Sanosuke immediately turned and began to go down the hall, stopping before the room his brother was in. Knowing that he couldn't just enter somebody else's room, he crossed his arms and leaned against the opposite wall, waiting for the young man to be finished.

It took a while, but eventually Hayate walked out of the room, a brunette nurse with him. "Ah, Sano." Hayate smiled. "I was wondering when you'd show up." He looked to the woman next to him. "Miku, can you take care of this for me? Thanks." He said, handing the chart off to her. She nodded and smiled, giving Sanosuke an appreciative once over before walking away.

"Is Talia here?" Sanosuke asked, not in the mood to exchange pleasantries with his younger brother today.

Hayate sighed. "You know, I really don't think it's the best idea to bother her right now. She's still a little upset, and-"

"So she's here?" Sanosuke pushed off the wall and began to look around the corridor, as if she would magically appear.

"Yes, but I'm not going to allow you to harass my staff and cause a scene." The ebony haired man said. "So you'll just have to wait until her shift ends."

Sanosuke looked back at his brother and pouted. "You mean…you won't let your big brother find happiness?" he asked softly, widening his eyes and appearing wounded. "What would mommy say?"

Hayate's eyes widened at the words. "But…today's a busy day…and Talia is my friend…"

"But I'm your brother." the elder said, trying to keep the smirk off his face. "Isn't family more important?"

Hayate frowned, remaining silent for a few minutes. "Fine." He finally conceded. "But if you upset her, I will tell mom on you. And so help me I'll make sure she punishes you so bad you'll think you're a kid again." He threatened, pointing in Sanosuke's face.

"Okay, so where is she?" he asked. He knew his brother would make good on the threat, because if their mother took a side most often, it was Hayate's, no matter what anyone said. And as innocent as he acted, the youngest Uchiha used this to his advantage whenever he could.

"She's in the break room." Hayate said. "But you only have ten minutes. Because after her break is over, I want you out. Or _else_." He said, before walking off.

Sanosuke practically ran the entire way to the small kitchenette where the staff took their breaks. When he reached the room, he had to stop and take a breath to calm himself. Then he looked in, and thanked his luck that Talia was alone. Not to mention she didn't seem to notice his presence yet. He walked until he was next to her, trying to think of which question to ask first, since he had so many. "Where did you go?" he asked softly, not wanting to startle her.

Talia jumped so badly she dropped the instant ramen that was in her hands and watched it sadly as it spilled onto the floor. "Damnit." She sighed, looking back and ignoring the mess. When she saw the Uchiha she groaned. "God, what?"

He frowned slightly. This type of greeting did not bode well. "You disappeared." He stated. "Why? Was it because of Noriaki?"

"It wasn't because of anybody." She said, holding her hands up, palms out. "I just wanted to leave. I don't appreciate being stalked and watched by your sister-in-laws, or whatever the hell Hikari is. Kanamé is nice and all but your other brother is like, I don't even know what's wrong with him. But there's definitely issues there." She huffed, looking angry for a moment. Then her gaze turned sad, "Look…I'm just normal. I'm not anything special and your brother's right. I mean…your mom is amazing and strong and beautiful…" she paused and shook her head, looking down. "I'm not any of those things. I'm just a nurse and I'm just Talia. Why try at something that's probably going to end up…broken…"

Sanosuke crouched so that he could look up at her. "What makes you think any of that?" he asked, looking into her eyes. "I like that you're normal. It's what drew me to you in the first place. If I wanted someone like my mother, I would have gone for Hikari. What I want is you." he reached up and cupped her cheek. "Just Talia, the nurse that blushes when I touch her," he stroked her cheek with his thumb as she did just that, "whose smile makes me want to smile, and whose laugh can cheer up even the saddest of people. My life is crazy enough as it is…having you in it has been very…refreshing. And I'm willing to work for it to stay that way, if you are."

Talia blinked away the tears that were gathering in her eyes and smiled. "Really?" She whispered, placing her hand over his. "You really want to date me…and be…boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yes." He smiled slightly. Then it faltered. "But…this would be the first time I've ever attempted anything like this, and I might not be very good at it." he admitted. "So you'll have to try and put up with me as I learn." He smiled once more.

She shrugged. "Even if you were experienced I doubt it would be normal with your insane family."

He nodded. "So, when do you get off?" he asked.

"Five hours or so. Why?"

"I would like to take you to dinner." He said, pulling his hand from her face and standing. "Somewhere casual, so you don't need to dress up or anything."

She arched a curious brow, smirking slightly. "Are you assuming I own nothing that would be deemed acceptable in your class?"

His eyes widened as he realized she may take his words for an insult. "No! I just thought…you'd be getting off a long day of work, so you might be too tired to dress up." He explained, rubbing the back of his neck in his nervousness.

Talia smiled, laughing softly. "I'd love to go to dinner with you Sanosuke, wherever you want to take me. So long as it's just me and you." She nodded, poking him in the stomach.

"I promise." He smiled, glancing at the clock. "Well, I should let you finish the rest of your break." He sighed. Then he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "See you tonight." He whispered, before turning and leaving the small room.

"Bye." She waved with her fingers, unable to stop her giggling. As bad as things had been at dinner, it seemed like they were really destined to give this a try. Talia just hoped it all worked out.


	6. Grievances

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter Six_

-Grievances-

Akito laid on his side, staring at the wall as he listened to his wife blabber on. He was agitated, because by now he and Natsumi would have been tangled in the sheets and she would be screaming out in ecstasy instead of complaining. It had been a month since he'd heard about his children's spat and attack on Talia, and since then, nothing had been alright. Apparently, Sanosuke was avoiding everyone and Noriaki was doing the same, aside from reporting in for missions. He was acting even more emo than him.

"I haven't seen my baby boys in forever Akito." Natsumi continued on, her arms crossed as she leaned against the backboard, her bedside lamp on.

"It's been forever since I've gotten some waffles too." He grumbled, earning a hit in the shoulder.

"How can you be thinking about sex at a time like this when our children are in disarray!" the pink haired woman yelled. "I want to see my precious Sano, and Noriaki has been so dark lately it breaks my heart! I don't want him turning into your father! Hikari can hardly even get him to sleep with her he's so emo!"

The Hokage sighed, and rolled over to look at his wife. "Sweetheart," he said, reaching out and placing his hand on her thigh. "If you're so bothered by it, then why don't you try and fix it?" he asked, rubbing the smooth skin beneath his hand. He really, _really_ wanted to have sex right now. "You're their mother, just do that little guilt trip that you do." He said, slipping his hand between her legs and rubbing her. Maybe he could coax her into having sex. "It's always worked in the past."

"You're right." Natsumi perked up, appearing unaffected. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Why are you so smart Akki? You're just too amazing." She giggled, getting out of bed and revealing her short, black nightie. "I need to write down what I need to say. Sano will take a lot of convincing to get him to bring his cute little girlfriend over to finally meet us!" she cheered, disappearing out the door.

Akito groaned and rolled onto his back. "I just had to open my mouth." He muttered, looking down at his slightly aroused member. "Oh fuck it." he said, getting up and walking into his bathroom. It wouldn't be the first time he'd been denied and forced to masturbate anyways.

* * *

Sanosuke puttered around his house, cleaning it and making sure that everything looked nice. Tonight, Talia was coming over and he was going to make dinner for her. He felt that one month into their relationship it was time for such a step, and so he was making the necessary preparations.

The month they'd spent together had been amazing. He didn't get to see her that much, because of missions, but he had reduced his training schedule a bit in order to make it work out. And the time that they had spent together was always fun. She seemed to understand him in a way he never thought anyone would, and it didn't bother her that he wasn't very talkative. It was almost like she just enjoyed being with him, and didn't think conversation was always necessary.

His doorbell rang then, and he paused in dusting his living room. Odd. Talia wasn't going to arrive until seven, and that was hours away. And nobody else usually just came over to his house, unless it was a family member. His eyes narrowed and he cloaked his chakra, slowly and silently making his way to the door. If it was one of his siblings, he'd just have to tell them to shove off. As he got closer he could feel his mother's sand, and his eyes widened. Oh no. If she was here, it couldn't be good.

He knew if he didn't answer soon she would just come inside, and so he turned and bolted for his backdoor, using his speed to try and outrun her. He just barely made it to his backyard when a wall of sand was erected in front of him. Stopping, Sanosuke had to still his racing heart as he turned around to see the form of his mother. "Mommy…what a surprise." He tried to laugh as he scratched his head. "Um…I was just cleaning." He said by way of explanation, holding up his duster.

"Were you now?" she asked, an extremely dangerous smile on her face. Bad sign number one. The sand remained over the back door, some of it sliding off and around the young Uchiha. Bad sign number two. "I didn't realize you inherited your grandma's sense of urgency to clean everything…including outside." She said lowly, despite the grin. She walked around the kitchen, surveying the contents and then stopped when she was between him and the exit. Bad sign number three. Shit, he was trapped. "Did you honestly think you could outrun me my little Sanosuke?" she wondered, arching a delicate pink brow.

He sighed, looking down. "No ma'am." He said, glancing back up at her. "I love you." he said softly, giving her a small smile in the hopes that it would lessen her anger.

"Do you now?" Natsumi chuckled, stepping forward, which only made Sanosuke shrink back. There was only one thing in this world that frightened any Uchiha, and it was the matriarch of the family. "Then how come I haven't seen you in a month? Hm? I heard you had a girlfriend, and yet you've not brought her to meet your father and I. I know you had a spat with Noriaki, but I fail to see how that affects your mother at all. In fact…I don't think you do love me…I think you love this girl more that you are just pushing us all away." She sniffed, instantly appearing wounded. She covered her mouth with one of her hands. "I just want to meet her Sano, I don't want my baby boy to forget about his mommy who loves him so much."

Sanosuke's eyes widened and he was by the pink haired woman in a second. "But I do love you Mommy!" he said, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. He laid his head on top of hers, since he was now taller than her. "But Talia has been apprehensive about meeting everyone else since the whole thing with Noriaki, and I wanted to lay more groundwork….I didn't mean to upset you. Please don't cry." He begged, pulling away and looking down at her with worried eyes. "I really am sorry."

Natsumi sniffed, nodding slightly as she wiped away the few tears that had slid down her face. "Then I want you and her to come over for dinner tomorrow." She said simply, almost as if she'd never been sad. "I promise it will only be the four of us, but you _will_ be there." She smiled once more, but gave him a hard stare. "Right? You don't want to make mommy cry again do you? Daddy doesn't get waffles with mommy when she's upset and he's _very_ agitated from the past few weeks of sobriety. He might just snap…and who do you think he will have to blame?"

Sanosuke sighed. "Yes Mommy, I promise we'll both be there. Do you want us to bring anything?" he asked.

The pink haired woman perked up and shook her head. "Nope! I will make everything."

"Okay." He nodded. "And you swear nobody else will be there? Talia and I are at a delicate stage in our relationship right now, and I almost lost her when she met Kanamé, Vitani, Hikari, and Noriaki. It was mostly Nori's fault, but still."

"I swear." She giggled. "No one but us. I promise. Your father, me, you, and Talia."

"Alright. We'll be there at seven." The Uchiha said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Natsumi nodded, clapping her hands together. "Excellent." The sand dropped and she let out a tired breath. "Well tah." She waved, disappearing in flash.

He sighed, wiping his hand down the side of his neck. Well, there was no avoiding introducing Talia to his parents any longer, he thought as he resumed dusting. He knew one thing for certain though. Talia was not going to be pleased with the news. He only hoped they were able to make it through to the desert without something going wrong.

* * *

Talia walked towards the Uchiha District, excitement in her step. Tonight she was going to have dinner with Sanosuke at his home. She could hardly stand it, everything in her life seemed to be picking up and taking off. She was dating an Uchiha, the hospital was doing well, and she hadn't been bothered by a certain someone for almost two weeks now.

She smiled, letting out a deep breath. She hadn't had any run-ins with any of the Uchihas since the horrific incident at Kanamé's, and she was okay with that. She wanted to prolong another interaction as long as possible. She couldn't believe how lucky she was though. Sanosuke was so considerate and sweet, especially when he thought no one was looking. She kind of figured he was embarrassed with the fact he cared so much about things.

When she spotted the house, her heart nearly exploded with enthusiasm. But she had to relax. She didn't want to seem too eager. She had pulled her hair halfway up, clipping the locks up so her bangs framed her face, and was wearing a dark purple dress that tied around her neck as a halter top. It hugged her torso tightly, but fell around her waist loosely, stopping at her knees.

Finally, she was at his door and after fixing herself, she knocked loudly. She didn't have to wait long for him to answer the door, because not ten seconds later it opened to reveal Sanosuke, dressed in a pair of dark pants and a nice black button down shirt, tucked in, of course. He smiled slightly at the sight of her. "Hey." He said, opening his door wider so that she could enter his home.

"Hi." Talia beamed, stepping in and looking around, before she turned to face him. "How are you today?"

"As well as can be expected." He said as he closed his door. "You look beautiful." He reached out and cupped her cheek. "As always." His smile widened.

She giggled, leaning into his touch. "Thanks, you look pretty handsome yourself."

He leaned down and kissed her lightly. He never allowed himself to do any more with her, because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop. Talia was the first person he'd ever been this close with after all, and whenever she touched him, even the slightest of ways, it made his thoughts fuzzy. "Come." He gestured towards his dining room. "The lasagna is getting cold."

Talia nodded and followed after him, lacing her fingers with his. "Your house is amazing. It's so big, yet cozy. I really like it."

"Thank you. When we all turned eighteen we were told we needed to get our own homes, so we picked a location and built them to our specifications." Sanosuke told her as they went into the dining room. The table was set with two tall, white candles that were lit. There were two settings, bowls of a nice garden salad set in front of them. She could smell the lasagna, but she assumed it was still in the kitchen. There were two glasses in front of each plate, one filled with white wine, and the other ice water.

"Wow." She breathed out, blushing slightly. "You went all out."

"You deserve the best that I can give you." he smiled, stroking her cheek lightly.

"Yeah…but…" she shrugged, deciding to stop her rambling. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks Sanosuke, it's really romantic."

"I tried." He led her over to her seat and pulled it out for her, pushing it in once she was seated. Then he sat down at the head of the table, which was next to Talia, and began to eat. "So how was your day?" he asked, looking over at her.

Talia did the same, relishing in the fresh taste. "It was good." she said, with a mouthful of salad. She blushed and lifted her napkin to her lips and swallowed. "Sorry." The blonde squeaked. "I had three surgeries today and they were all successful. Went home and had a bath and got ready for our date."

Sanosuke smiled. "That's good. I'm glad that your surgeries went well." He took a sip of his wine. "I don't have any missions this week, so whenever you aren't busy if you'd like to go on some more dates or hang out, we can." He said. This way he could cushion the blow of having to eat with his parents, and make up for whatever disaster he knew was bound to happen.

She practically glowed. "Really?! You don't? Well then I'll take off all week. I've been accumulating quite a few vacation days, and Hayate would definitely let me off if it were to spend time with you." she bubbled.

"Excellent." His smile widened. This was going better than he had thought it would. "I shall come up with some activities for us to partake in. It's not very often that I have this much time off, so there's a lot of things I don't get to do." He took another bite of his salad and swallowed it. "Is there anything in particular that you would like to do?"

"I would love to do anything. Maybe the movies? Or a picnic? You could always come to my house, though it's not as nice as yours, and I could make you dinner." She suggested, finishing off her salad. "Or whatever."

He rose and picked up both of their salad bowls. "Anything you want. As long as you're happy, I'm happy." He took them into the kitchen and then grabbed the two ready plates of lasagna and garlic bread, before taking them into the dining room. "And here is dinner." He announced, setting her plate in front of her. "I'm not as great of a cook as my parents are, but lasagnas and casseroles are pretty easy for me to do." He admitted.

Talia eyed the food hungrily, already digging into the delicious meal. She made an audible moan and regarded him. "It's _really_ good." she said before continuing to eat.

Sanosuke clenched his jaw at the sound as he took his seat once more, unable to keep from picturing hearing the noise in a different setting. Hard as he tried, he couldn't help but think of doing such dirty things with the blonde. She was very alluring, after all, despite what she thought about herself. "Thank you." he said.

The rest of dinner went off without a hitch, the two enjoying one another's company as they talked idly of many different subjects. Towards the end of the meal the young Uchiha grew quieter, and a bit tenser, though he played it off well. Dessert came around eventually, and consisted of chocolate cake with a side of vanilla ice cream on the side, because Sanosuke didn't like for his cake to get soggy from the ice cream. As Talia began to dig into the treat, the ebony haired man just sat there and watched her. Now would be as good a time as any, since he had spent the entire hour before this buttering her up.

"So…my mother came by to visit me today." He said, slowly getting some cake onto his fork and taking a bite, glancing at the blonde woman.

Talia froze, mid-chew, as her amber gaze shifted over to Sanosuke, suspicion obvious in her stare. She swallowed and set her fork down before replying. "Any particular reason?"

"A few." He shrugged, trying to play it off as he took another bite. When he swallowed he set down his fork and sat back in his seat. "She wanted to see how I was doing, since I haven't seen her this past month. And…she wants to meet you. Tomorrow. For dinner."

"No." Talia said quickly, shaking her head. She placed her hands on the table and pushed her chair back a bit.

Sanosuke sighed. "Talia…please-"

"No!" she said much louder, but then reclaimed her previous demeanor. "I mean that…I can't. I have that thing tomorrow…I totally forgot about it. So I won't be able to make it."

His forest gaze narrowed at her. "You don't have anything going on tomorrow. Especially not at seven in the evening."

"Yes I do." She nodded. "That…thing…you know, at the hospital." She laughed awkwardly. "It completely escaped me. Sorry, I mean I would _looooove_ to meet your mother and all, but…" she shrugged, eating some more ice cream. "You know how work goes."

Sanosuke frowned, before putting on a wounded look. "You mean…you lied when you said you'd take time off to spend time with me? Or when you said you'd love to do anything with me?" he asked softly, hurt seeping into his tone.

Her eyes widened and she felt her heart sink. "But I…" she began, looking down. "I really do Sano, but I mean what happened last time with your family. I just don't know if it's the best idea." She fidgeted with her silverware, trying to avoid meeting his sad gaze. She couldn't be able to protest if he worked her over with those gorgeous emerald orbs.

"It'll only be my parents." He said. "My mother promised. And I thought it was time that you met them. You're really important to me, and so are they, and it'd mean a lot if you did…" he sighed. "But I guess if you don't _want_ our relationship to progress any further…I suppose I can tell my mother you'd rather not. I don't want to upset you after all, though it will just break her heart…" he was able to make himself look nearly heartbroken.

Unfortunately, Talia glanced over at him. "Sano…" she said softly. She knew Uchihas well enough to know she was being played. So she'd play back. It was so hard not to give in completely. "I'll go…so long as it's just your parents…" she smiled at him, leaning closer. "If…we could possibly talk about the aspect of…you maybe sleeping over…or vice versa?"

His sad look was wiped right off his face then, as his eyes widened. "You mean…like…sex?" he nearly whispered, his heartbeat beginning to pick up from the mere mentioning of the activity.

Talia's cheeks tinted a dark red. "Well it doesn't have to be sex at first…we could just sleep together…I mean only if you're okay with it. I know that's a huge step, and we've only been dating for a month, but I feel really secure about us. Like we really connect."

"Oh." He let out a relieved sigh. He didn't think he was ready for that, especially because he wasn't experienced in such things. "Then yes." He perked up, smiling slightly. "You can stay with me tomorrow night after dinner with my parents if you'd like. We can live together for the entire week that I'm off."

She tried not to feel so deflated about him being relieved, but brushed it off. "I don't want to inconvenience you. I just wanted to talk about it since you always avoid it when I try and bring it up."

Sanosuke frowned, before reaching over and cupping her cheek. "It wouldn't be an inconvenience. You could never be something like that." He said, meaning it. He lowered his hand and looked down at the table. "It's just that sex is something reserved for marriage. I mean, that way you know you fully love the person, and so even if their performance is not what you had expected it to be, that one fact does not affect your feelings for them. Because some people will have sex outside of marriage, and then it's not that great, and they break off the relationship with their partner. And others just never talk about it, and the whole thing goes down the tubes, and it's just terrible for everyone involved." He rambled, for the first time in front of Talia. He realized what he was doing and blushed slightly, glancing up at her. "Um…nevermind. Forget I said anything."

"No…you're right." she sighed, pushing her dessert away from her. "It was a dumb idea." She shook her head then and gave him a half hearted smile. "I'm kind of tired, so I think I'm going to head home. I'll just meet you here around six fifty." Talia told him before she stood.

His eyes widened and he hastily stood from his seat. "Wait!" he said, grabbing her arm to halt her departure. "I…I've never…been…with a woman before." He admitted, despite how hard it was to look this weak in front of anyone. Though in this case he felt that it would help him to be this vulnerable in front of her. "And I know that people assume that because I am an Uchiha that I've been with many women, and that I'm just as great as the rest of the males in my family are known to be…but what if I'm terrible?" he pressed his lips together in a thin line. "I really care for you…the time we've spent together has been some of my happiest, and I'm _extremely_ attracted to you…so much that it scares me." he whispered. "I don't want to lose you because I've disappointed you."

Talia's face was as red as a cherry. "I w-wouldn't know what good was…I've never been with a man either." She said softly. "So if we ever did…you would be my first."

"Really?" he breathed out. "But…you're absolutely breathtaking. Your charm, smile, and vulnerability are enough to bring any sane man to his knees."

If she could blush any more, she would. His compliments sent shivers through her and caused butterflies to flutter around in her stomach. "I just never did…I've never liked anyone before you…at least not enough to make anything out of it." she smiled then. "You really think I'm breathtaking?"

Sanosuke smiled tenderly, releasing her arm and stroking her cheek softly. "That day in the forest, when we first met, I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Even more beautiful than my own mother." He confessed. "And the only reason I carried you back to the village instead of letting you walk, was so that I could have the excuse to touch you."

Talia giggled, leaning into him. "Really?" she asked once more, though she knew it to be true. "You're so sweet. I can't believe I was lucky to have gotten saved by you."

"I can't believe I was lucky enough to have you get attacked while on my way home." He chuckled, before leaning in and kissing her, this time lingering in the act. She returned the gesture, lifting her hands and holding his face, tracing his jaw line. It was the longest kiss between them yet, and it felt amazing.

Daringly, she treaded dangerous waters by attempting to deepen their contact, touching her tongue to his lips and opening her own slightly. She felt him exhale sharply against her face, before slowly opening his mouth and hesitantly sliding his tongue against hers. Taking that as a good sign, Talia lifted her hands further and ran her fingers through his soft, dark locks before gripping them tightly and forcing him closer, their bodies pressed against one another.

Sanosuke let out a small moan, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her against him. He lifted her then, before pushing her plate and bowl away and sitting her on the edge of his table as their kissing grew more heated. "Talia…" he breathed out against her lips, before kissing her once more. His body was coursing with adrenaline, half of his actions not even being controlled by him, but by mere instinct alone. It was exhilarating, and at the same time scary, to not be fully in control of his body for the first time in his life. But the things she made him feel drowned out his thoughts as he placed his hands on her hips and began a trail of kisses along her jaw.

"Sano…" she moaned as he bit down on her flesh, causing her body to arch against his. "suke…" Talia held his head down.

His grip on her tightened and he pulled her almost roughly against his obvious arousal. He began to kiss down her neck, sucking on her soft flesh and biting it. He ground his pelvis against hers, groaning at the stimulation. "I want you so badly." He murmured, nuzzling her affectionately.

"I thought Uchihas took what they wanted." She chuckled, moving her hips against his, her breathing becoming labored. It felt like her whole body was on fire from the sensation and anticipation.

The ebony haired man pulled back and looked down at her, his deep eyes clouded with lust. "Such a treasure must be given to me." he reached up and cupped her cheek.

She smiled, her heart doing a somersault. "It's already been given." Talia kissed him once more, her fingers touching the back of his neck delicately.

Sanosuke returned the gesture, kissing her before sliding his hands beneath her thighs and lifting her against him. He carried her through his house, though Talia didn't really pay any attention to the layout until she was gently laid against soft, silky sheets. "Consider this our first sleepover." He smirked slightly, resting his forehead against hers.

"Okay…" she breathed out, practically begging for another kiss. He leaned down to give in to her want, but stopped when they both heard a loud banging on the front door.

He glared over in the direction of the noise. "I'll be right back." He said, looking back down at her. "You can just stay here. It won't take me long to get rid of whoever this is." He promised, kissing her quickly before pulling away. He had to refrain from stomping out of his room like a child would, instead glaring forward as he made his way to his front door. He jerked it open, coming face to face with one of the many messengers from his mother. "What." He nearly growled. "This had better be important."

The female paled, taking in the Uchiha's appearance and his unbuttoned pants. "I'm sorry Sanosuke-sama, but Natsumi-sama ordered me to give you a message around this hour. She says that you had better not be up to any shenanigans. Or else you will suffer a fate far worse than death by her hand."

"Fuck off." his glare increased, and he slammed the door in her face. Damn his mother. All he wanted was to have sex with his girlfriend, was that so wrong to ask? He closed his eyes and took a series of deep breaths, regaining control over himself before turning and walking back into his bedroom. Talia was sitting on the edge of his bed waiting for him, and he felt so guilty when he saw the smile that came to her face. Because she was about to get very upset.

"Was it something important?" she asked, watching him as he stopped in front of her. She placed her hands on his hips, rubbing her thumbs on his pelvic bones.

He closed his eyes and placed his hands over hers to halt her movements. "My…mother has ordered me to not sleep with you, because if I do she will punish me severely…" he sighed, opening his eyes and looking down at her. "And she _always_ finds out about such things, no matter what. So…we can't…at least not now…"

Talia blinked, still smiling until she saw he wasn't going to do anything. "You're joking…" she frowned. "You're twenty-two."

"You don't know my mother." Sanosuke said.

"I know that everyone thinks she's a psychopath! She can't just tell you what to do." She huffed, growing angrier. "I can't believe you're really not going to…to…just because she says so?"

"Well…we could do other stuff…" he blushed slightly. "Unless you don't want to."

"What's the point?" Talia grumbled, crossing her arms. "If it can't go anywhere else, and I doubt your _mommy_ will be okay with any sexual behavior."

Sanosuke crouched down and cupped her face. "I'm sorry." He said. "I'm just as upset about this as you are. But it really is best if we don't, especially considering tomorrow's dinner."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." She sighed, getting up and moving around him. "I'll see you tomorrow then for a disastrous night, I can only assume." And with that she was out of his bedroom.

He rose and followed after her, reaching her when she was at the door. "Talia, at least let me walk you home." He said.

"Sanosuke." Talia sighed. "It'll just be harder. Let me go home and I will see you tomorrow, where I'll dress up and be everything you need me to be to impress your parents." She smiled then, cupping his cheek. "I had a wonderful night. Thank you again." The blonde leaned forward and kissed him softly. "See you later." She waved before heading out the door.

The Uchiha groaned and hit his head against the door. Well this night had definitely not gone as he'd planned. As he straightened and went to clean up the mess from dinner, Sanosuke couldn't help but frown. He'd never been so mad at his mother than he was right now. And he was not looking forward to the time that he told her to stop coddling him and let him live his own life. Because that moment was coming soon, and it would not be a pretty one.


	7. A Dinner Full of Disaster

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter Seven_

-A Dinner Full of Disaster-

Sanosuke paced in the hallway, waiting for Talia to arrive. He sighed, wiping his hand down his face. Last night had been terrible after she'd left. Cleaning up was no problem, but once he'd gone back to his room all he could picture was Talia lying on his bed, moaning just as sweetly as she had when he'd put her on the table. Such things had made sleep impossible, especially as his member began to stiffen. And so, for the first time in his life, he'd taken care of his 'problem' on his own. He was ashamed afterwards, but then figured that it was normal. He knew his father had probably done it before, or any of his brothers. Especially Noriaki.

His doorbell rang then and he was quickly brought from his thoughts. Talia was finally here, and he couldn't wait to see what she had decided to wear to dinner. Tonight he was wearing an outfit similar to the one before, though his shirt had small lines of red in it. He opened the door, a smile lighting his face at the sight that greeted him.

"Hey." Talia smiled beautifully, reaching up and kissing his cheek. "How was your day today?" she asked, stepping into his house since he had stood aside. She was wearing a simple black dress with one sleeve crossing over her chest and going over her shoulder. It was tight, cinched up slightly on one side, cascading down as it hung lower on the other side.

"You look fantastic." He said, taking her hand and twirling her so that he could see her entire outfit.

She giggled, "Thanks. I put on my best dress for tonight."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I love it." he said, before his expression sobered slightly. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be to meet the sand demon princess." She smirked, giving him a playful look.

The corner of his lip tilted slightly. "Just don't let her hear you call her that." He chuckled, leading her out of his house. He didn't bother to lock it, instead wrapping his arm around her waist and holding her against his side as they walked towards his parent's house. "I'm not sure how well I'll be able to defend you."

"Is she really as powerful as everyone says? I mean…she's in her forties isn't she?" Talia wondered, trying to comprehend the small pink haired woman as such a threat. Because whenever she'd seen her next to the Hokage, she appeared tiny and adoring of her husband.

"Yes. And don't mention her age either." The Uchiha told her as they came upon another large house. "The last person who did wound up in the hospital, and the only reason they're not dead is because my father intervened in time."

The blonde groaned. "So she _is_ a psycho."

Sanosuke just nodded, raising his arm and knocking on his parent's front door. "Just be your normal, charming self." He smiled, trying to encourage her.

"I'll try." She took in a deep breath, trying not to show how nervous she was. She was about to meet the Hokage and the fierce leader of the Konoha Anbu. She couldn't imagine the things that they could possibly do, nonetheless together.

The door opened, revealing a gorgeous pink haired woman who was smiling brightly. "Sanosuke!" Natsumi beamed, wrapping her arms around her son and holding him tightly. She released him, holding him at arm's length. "You look so handsome." Then her gaze shifted to Talia. "And you must be the lovely Talia." Natsumi said sweetly, placing her hands on the blonde's shoulders. "I've heard so much about you."

I'm sure you have, Talia thought before plastering on a smile. "Hello Natsumi-sama. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Mother." Sanosuke placed his hand on Talia's lower back to silently support her. "Thank you for inviting us over to dinner tonight." He said.

Her jade depths finally tore away from the blonde and she released her before looking back to her son. "Of course my darling, please come in." she went back inside, shutting the door behind them. Talia could smell the cuisine before they even entered the living room. The house was gorgeous, much more elaborate than the two Uchiha homes she'd seen before.

"Your house is very lovely." The blonde voiced.

Natsumi glanced back, her lips pursed together in a tight line before she smiled. "Thank you dear. I do have amazing taste." She said before leaving the room. "Akito! Sanosuke is here!"

Sanosuke led Talia after the pink haired woman, his nerves not lessening in the least based on the introduction of his girlfriend to his mother. They entered the dining room then, where Akito was already seated at the head of the table. It was already set and ready to go, the only thing missing being their meal. Upon seeing the couple enter, the ebony haired Hokage rose and walked around the table. "Hello, my name is Uchiha Akito." He said, shaking Talia's hand. "It's nice to finally see proof that Sano isn't gay." He smirked.

"Father." The young man reprimanded, a tint of pink coming to his cheeks.

Akito simply gave his son a stern look. "I was denied sex for over a month because of you. You would do well to remember that." He said, making the young man sigh.

"I was denied my first time at sex last night by your crazy wife." Talia grumbled, crossing her arms. "But nice to meet you."

The Hokage smirked. "I like her." he said. "Well, dinner is about to be served, so why don't the two of you have a seat while we wait?"

Sanosuke pulled a chair out for Talia, taking the seat to the left of his father's since his mother always sat on the right. Natsumi emerged from the kitchen with two platters full of food. One had chicken and the other had steak. "I didn't know what you liked Talia so I just made both." She said, placing them down and going to go get the vegetables. The blonde stared at the meal, her mouth practically watering. It smelled _so_ good.

"Wow. It looks great."

"Wait until you eat it." Akito said. "If we weren't so big on training in this family we'd all be fat by now." He chuckled.

Natsumi sat down next to her husband, after she placed the other dishes down. "Well I _am_ a wonderful chef."

"So is Talia." Sanosuke said, beginning to place some of the meat on his plate. "She makes amazing cookies."

"Can she cook anything else besides fattening sweets?" Natsumi asked curiously as she cut into her steak.

Talia looked up at the comment, having been focused on her chicken. She didn't know much about the pink haired woman, but she couldn't believe she was this vicious. Unfortunately, she didn't think this was even the worst of it.

"I haven't yet had the pleasure of sampling anything else." The young Uchiha said, knowing the game his mother was playing. "But if her cookies are anything to go by, then I bet her cooking is just as good as yours."

"So," Akito cut in, trying to derail this train. "Talia, I hear you work at the hospital with Hayate. How do you like it?"

"I really love it." the blonde perked up. "Hayate's a wonderful boss and I love helping people. Surgeries are intricate, but it's cool knowing I helped save someone's life."

Natsumi scoffed. "It's a healer who really does all the work."

"Well they would have a hard time doing their job if it weren't for dedicated, kind, and helpful people such as Talia to be in the room with them assisting, wouldn't they, mother?" Sanosuke looked over at her and raised a brow. And it was clear to everyone that the young Uchiha was beginning to get agitated with the pink haired woman.

The matriarch's gaze narrowed dangerously. "I suppose so." She said simply, looking away as she continued to eat.

"So Hokage-sama," Talia cleared her throat. "How did, uh, you and your wife meet?"

"Our parents were friends, and so we were introduced as children. Natsumi was a bit obsessive back then, and the first thing she ever said to me was that were going to get married when we were older." He chuckled. "I didn't believe her of course, but she was so cute that I agreed. We've been together ever since."

The blonde blinked. "Wow. Really? Just like that?"

"Just like that." Natsumi actually smiled. "He simply couldn't resist."

"She got super hot when she hit sixteen. So marrying her was the easiest way to get in her pants." The elder man smirked, leaning over and kissing his wife's cheek. "That and I've loved her since day one."

She gave him a deadly glare before she pat his leg. "Good answer sweetie." She said before returning to her meal. "So…" Natsumi frowned, glancing up for only a second. "Have you two had sex yet?"

"No." Sanosuke said, taking a bite of his steak. "But we're still going to."

Her fork bent in half before she let out a sharp breath. "I don't see why you're rushing things. I mean it's only been just one month. You can wait…until I dunno four, maybe five more years to indulge in such an activity."

Talia gave the woman a hard stare. "I mean no disrespect Natsumi-sama, but Sanosuke is twenty-two years old and is quite capable of deciding if he wants to have sex or not."

"Not to mention Talia's probably the only woman Sanosuke will ever go for." Akito said. "He needs to get some while he can."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Talia blinked. Was Sanosuke going to leave her eventually?

But Natsumi nearly blew. "No!" she yelled. "No, no, no! I can't lose my last baby!" she stood, glaring at Talia. "I will not allow you to take my last baby boy!"

Sanosuke stood as well. "I am not a child anymore mother!" he said. "Why can't you let me be my own man? I'm twenty-two. Is it so terrible that I've found someone that I want to be with, of my own volition, that you'd go out of your way to keep us apart?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, becoming flustered. "You're my last child who has not been defiled or married and I want to keep my last baby!"

Talia just blinked and suddenly she wasn't so irritated by the woman who was making jabs at her. She was just a mama bird about to let go of her last child. But before any of the arguing could continue they all heard the front door and then Noriaki and Hikari were in the doorway to the dining room. "What the hell!? You make dinner and we're not invited?"

The pink haired woman paled, "Nori? What are you doing here?"

Kanamé popped in then, a brunette behind him. "Dad! I need the key to the office scrolls. I forgot to look over something the other day…hey how come you guys are having dinner without us?"

Akito's eyes widened as his other children filed in, taking the open seats and pulling at the meat. "What are you all-"

"Daddy!" a female voice chimed as Izayoi came in, followed by her husband. "I have a favor to ask!" she blinked and looked around. "Daddy!" the dark haired woman exploded. "How could you?!"

Akito's eyes widened. "Sweetheart, you know something like this wouldn't be my idea." He said, trying to placate her. "It was your mother's."

"I knew it." the ebony haired woman said, her gaze narrowing.

Sanosuke tried not to panic as he watched his sister and brother-in-law sit down and begin to help themselves. They weren't supposed to be here, after all.

"Silence!" Natsumi shouted, standing and glaring at all her unwelcomed guests. "What are you all doin-"

"Natsumi! Akito!" they all heard from the doorway as an auburn haired man walked in, followed by a brunette. "Long time no see!" he declared.

The pink haired woman hit her palm to her forehead. "Vincent…" she groaned.

The man noticed the brunette at the table and his smile grew. "My sweet little girl!"

"Daddy!" Vitani got up from her seat and hugged her father. "Mom!" she did the same thing to the icy blue eyed woman with the Mizukage. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We thought we'd pop in for a visit." Taka said. "And hopefully stay with the two of you and not your grandparents. Otherwise we'll just get a hotel."

Vitani looked back at her husband with a questioning look in her eyes, since she knew he would be the deciding factor in such a situation. Kanamé looked uncomfortable with the decision he'd just been given. "I…suppose that would be alright." he tried to smile, but only remembered the last time his in-laws had stayed in his home. Suffice it to say, it was terrible.

Talia blinked, looking around at the filled room, not really knowing what to do. "Mother." Sanosuke said as everyone continued to go about their business. "You said it would just be us. You promised."

"This isn't my fault." She said truthfully, looking panicked.

Vincent eyed the table and took a seat right next to Talia. "Wow this looks delicious! Don't mind if we stay for dinner do ya guys?" he asked, not waiting for a reply as he dug in. Noriaki rose and darted off into the kitchen.

"I'll get more plates and napkins." He called.

They heard another slammed door and the next thing everyone saw were bunch of flowers. "Mommy!" Hayate exclaimed, emerging from the bouquets. "Look what I brought for…hey! How come I wasn't invited to dinner?"

Chitose and another dark haired male looked from behind the bushels of flowers. "Oh wow Natty it looks delicious!" Chitose's father, Haru, beamed. He set the flowers down and joined the table as Noriaki passed out the plates, the entire room sounding like a massive hall due to all the occupants.

"Haru, get your mooching ass out of here." Akito glared, pointing to the door. "Don't you have a wife or something?"

But before the other man could reply, they all heard Hayate's cry. "Mommy! Why weren't Chitose and I invited? Did I do something bad?" he asked, beginning to panic. "Do you not love me anymore?!"

"What?!" Natsumi gasped, shaking her head. "No my small love, we were just meeting Sanosuke's new girlfriend and we didn't want to freak her out."

The whole room was silent for that one moment before all eyes turned to Talia, making her blush a dark red. Izayoi smiled. "She's cute."

"Very blonde." Haru chuckled. "I can't believe little Sano is heterosexual."

"I can't believe she hasn't left his sorry ass yet." Noriaki scoffed, only making Sanosuke simmer.

"Will you just shut up already!" he yelled, grabbing a piece of meat and throwing it across the room. Noriaki barely dodged the food and glared at his brother before fisting a handful of mashed potatoes and throwing it back. Sanosuke dodged, but they all heard a startled gasp and almost everyone was wide eyed.

Talia had been hit right in the face, the rest splattering all over her dress. She frowned and attempted to wipe the mass of it from her face, but she was far from happy. Sanosuke glared over at his brother. "Now look what you've done!" he said, before grabbing his napkin and trying to help her. "Talia, are you alright?" he asked softly, almost shocking everyone with how quickly his demeanor had changed regarding the blonde woman.

"I want to go home." She said lowly, her anger only beginning to simmer.

"Daddy!" Izayoi called out once more. "I wanted to ask you if Kai and I could use your summer home for a vacation." She said, not concerned with the filthy blonde any longer.

"You certainly may not." Natsumi huffed, grabbing another napkin as she tried to help Sanosuke and Talia.

Sanosuke helped Talia to her feet, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. They turned to make their way out of the home, but their path was blocked by the sheer amount of people present in his parent's dining room. He let out a sigh, trying to find a different path for them to take in order to make their escape.

"What do you want the summer home for?" Akito asked, ignoring his wife's decree.

Kai smiled as he grabbed more food. "We want to go on a little vacation." He said. "You know, some romantic alone time."

The Uchiha head glared at the grey eyed man. "As if I would give it to you for that reason."

"What about a family vacation?!" Hayate perked up. "Talia can come, and we can all spend some quality time together."

Hikari smiled. "That sounds like a great idea." She said. "I've been wanting to get away for a while anyways. What do you think baby?" she asked, looking next to her at Noriaki.

"Why on earth would I want to be stuck at a beach with my family?" he scoffed.

The pale haired woman huffed. "Well it'd give me an excuse to buy some new swimsuits, and having sex on the beach has always been one of my fantasies…" she sighed, looking sad. "But I guess I could just go without you. I bet I'll still have fun." She shrugged halfheartedly. "Maybe."

The dark haired man groaned, "Fine. Fine. I'll go."

Hikari perked up instantly. "Yay!" she giggled, kissing his cheek. "It'll be fun, I promise."

Sanosuke, not wanting to stay any longer, tried to squeeze himself and Talia through the people, but of course it was a difficult task. Hayate blinked as they neared him. "You guys are leaving? But everyone just got here." He said.

"That's why we're leaving." Sanosuke said, trying to push the younger man aside. "Now move."

"SILENCE!" Natsumi screamed at the top of her lungs, making everyone quiet down and look at the angry pink haired woman, whose sand was swimming around dangerously. "I want you _all_ out of my house this instant! If your name is not Sanosuke or Talia you better get your ass out of here before I put you all in the hospital! How dare you intrude upon my home unannounced! Now GET OUT!"

Everyone's eyes widened with fear, before they all suddenly made a mad dash for the door, scrambling and pushing to not be the last one out. It took a while, but eventually they were all gone, scattered food the only sign that there had been other people present. "You're so hot when you get pissed." Akito sighed, a small smirk coming to his face as he leaned back in his chair.

Sanosuke shook his head. "Mom, I really think I should take Talia home." He said, not moving from his spot next to the blonde woman.

"No!" Natsumi snapped, glaring at her son. "We are having dinner!" she seethed, stomping over and taking Talia's hand. "Come on Talia, I'll get you cleaned up while the boys tidy up the dining room." She said, actually sounding genuine as the two left.

The two ebony haired men sighed and moved to pick up all of the scattered food from the table and the floor. "You know, despite appearances, this dinner is very important to your mom." Akito said, righting the chairs as well.

"Then she should stop being so antagonistic." He replied. "Talia is important to me, and I want things to work out with her. She makes me…happy." He smiled slightly, going into the kitchen to throw away the bad food.

Akito followed, sighing as he brushed off his hands. "And she realizes that. But you must understand, you're our last child to find a mate." He explained. "And you finding someone means that your mother and I are getting old. Not to mention that you're officially 'leaving' the nest. She just needs some time to get used to the idea."

Sanosuke let out a deep breath as they went back into the dining room and took their seats. "I just hope it doesn't take her too long to get used to the idea." He said as the two women reentered the room. Sanosuke stood immediately, his brow knit with worry. "Is everything…okay?" he asked, looking from the blonde to his mother.

"Of course everything is okay." Natsumi huffed. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Talia brushed off the new dress she had on. It belonged to his mother and was similar to the one she'd had on before, only with two straps instead of one. The young Uchiha pulled her chair back for her, gesturing for her to sit down. She did so and looked up at him with a small smile. Natsumi took her own as well, sighing. "I'm so sorry Sano. I promise that was not planned."

"I know." Sanosuke said, taking his seat as well. "It was inevitable though. Nothing in this family goes as planned."

"Well we will have a nice, quiet dinner. I promise." Natsumi breathed out.

"So that always happens?" Talia asked curiously.

"Yes." The three Uchihas said at the same time.

Akito looked at Talia. "I do apologize for my other children. Respect isn't really a key word in their vocabulary."

"Trust me." the blonde rolled her eyes. "I could tell."

Sanosuke reached over and rubbed the base of her neck to try and soothe her. "At least grandfather didn't come by as well." He said. "That would have just made things worse."

"So much worse." The Hokage agreed, taking a bite of his food.

"How come?" Talia asked.

Natsumi sighed. "Because Sasuke doesn't even know Sanosuke likes you yet, nonetheless that you're his girlfriend."

Amber eyes glared at the man beside her. "_What_!" she seethed. "You said you were going to talk to him last week about it. You still haven't told him?"

Akito snickered. "Yeah, like anyone wants to be the one to tell my father news like that."

Sanosuke dropped his hand and put on the most innocent look he could. "Well…some stuff came up…and I got busy…and he was busy…so it just didn't happen."

Natsumi watched the blonde's expression change as she just continued to eat. Her gaze shifted to her son with a harsh glare, her eyes telling him he'd better fix this fast. "I'm sure that Sanosuke would love to have you two over for dinner tomorrow night so you can finally meet. Right Sanosuke?" she said sharply.

"Actually…he's home tonight…if you want to just go by after dinner…" the young man pushed his food around his plate nervously.

"I doubt that Talia would want to go over there after the night she's had." Natsumi scoffed. She would not have this indecision. "Don't worry. I'll go get him right now." She said, disappearing in a swirl of sand.

Talia blinked. "Wait. What?"

"We're all going to die." Akito said, wiping a hand down his face.

As the time passed Sanosuke could feel his nervousness growing. This was not good. He wasn't mentally prepared to tell his grandfather about Talia. And he definitely wasn't emotionally ready for whatever was going to happen. Not long after, Natsumi walked through the door with Sasuke behind her. The eldest Uchiha appeared to be even more bored than he normally did, and looked around the room, his dark gaze stopping on Talia.

Sanosuke stood immediately. "Grandfather." He almost squeaked, watching as Sasuke took the seat right across from Talia.

Sasuke just waited as Natsumi grabbed him a plate, and then began to serve himself some food. "Are you going to stand throughout the rest of dinner?" he asked, glancing at his grandson.

"No sir." Sanosuke said, slowly taking his seat as he stared at the Uchiha head.

Natsumi smiled, sitting beside her father-in-law. "Sasuke, this is Talia. She is Sanosuke's girlfriend. They've been going out for about a month now."

Talia nodded respectfully. "Nice to meet you sir."

"Hn." Was all he said, cutting his food and taking a bite. "You as well."

Akito blinked, before growing confused. "You…don't seem very surprised by this, Father." He said.

"I've known about Talia since the lunch with Hayate and Chitose."

Sanosuke's eyes widened. "You have? And…you didn't say anything? Why?"

Sasuke stopped eating and looked at the ebony haired man, his gaze unreadable, which was never a good thing. "Because I was waiting to see how long it would take you to work up the courage to tell me. And Natsumi winds up being the one to do it. I thought you had more balls than this Sano, but it appears I was wrong. How disappointing."

Talia huffed up. "Don't say that. It just means he thinks highly of you, that you were the hardest person to tell."

"I do not believe anyone here was speaking to you." the elder's gaze slid back over to her. "Regardless, it is nice to finally put a face to the name. It pleases me to know that my grandson is not blind."

Sanosuke blinked. Did he just…compliment her? After insulting her? He wasn't sure if he should be glad for this, or insulted. Because this definitely was not the reaction he was expecting.

"I'm glad he's not blind too." Talia smiled, clearly getting that the elder thought she was pretty.

"So, Talia, please tell me about yourself, as it seems Sano is having trouble finding his tongue." Sasuke said, glancing at Sanosuke, who was slack-jawed and wide eyed, just staring at him.

"Well I work at the hospital. I assist Hayate on most of his surgeries. I live on my own, I always wanted to study swords but I never got the chance because my mother died when I was young." She went on. "But I love the hospital, and I feel like I really help as a nurse."

"You are interested in swords?" he asked, genuinely curious. "I would be happy to teach you a few things. I taught Akito, as well as the triplets, and Sanosuke and Hayate."

"Really?" she lit up. "That would be so cool! I mean of course unless you were busy. My dad was a ninja, so I was always curious about the whole arts. But I didn't get anything from him aside from his kekkei genkai."

Natsumi blinked. "What? Talia has a kekkei genkai?"

"Yeah…" Sanosuke finally spoke up. "She's unaffected by genjutsu. Not even the Mangekyou can harm her."

Sasuke only looked pleased by the news. "We will have to test this then. You probably also possess the ability to see through genjutsu, and if we work on that, we can perfect your skill. You never know when you'll need it."

Talia's smile brightened. "That would be great Sasuke-sama!"

Sanosuke slammed his hands on the table. "What is going on?!" he asked, pointing at his grandfather. "You never liked the idea of me dating. You even said I didn't need a woman to be happy! Why aren't you angry?!" he nearly shouted. "And you're offering to take time to train her?! You hate training girls because you say they're too delicate. And more than that, you hate civilians. Heck, you hate people in general!"

"Sano, I am man enough to get over my prejudices for my family members." Sasuke said. "So calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down?!" the younger man began to hyperventilate as he thrust his fingers into his hair, gripping it tightly. "How can I calm down? This isn't normal!"

Akito reached over and slapped his son across the face. "Stop being a spazz." He ordered.

He shut his mouth, but was still breathing harshly through his nose as he tried to get a hold on himself. But the entire thing was freaking him out. Talia leaned forward and tried to look up at Sanosuke's face. "You okay?" she asked softly, resting her hand on his thigh.

Sanosuke glanced down at her and shook his head furiously, not trusting himself to speak right now. Sasuke just waved the whole thing off. "He'll be fine in a minute or two. He always is."

She giggled and leaned over so that her lips were touching his ear, her hand sliding dangerously close as she moved it between his legs. "Just relax." She whispered. "Tonight when we go back to your house we can let out all this stress you have built up."

Sanosuke let out a harsh breath as a shiver went up his spine. She was not really helping things much, although the thought of what they could do later in the confines of his room did make him feel a better. "Okay." He said softly, finally relaxing, if only slightly. Her hand was now rubbing his thigh, after all.

"Well I'm so glad this turned out so wonderfully." Natsumi smiled, seeming oblivious to the fact that the blonde was now giving her son an erotic massage under the table. "So you really like Talia?" she asked her father-in-law.

"Yes." He nodded, taking a bite of his food. "I think out of everyone Sano could've picked, she is the best match for him."

"I agree." Akito smiled, looking over at his son, whose fists were clenched around his silverware. The young Uchiha slowly tried to cut another bite off, though his knife slipped slightly. Akito frowned. "Sano, are you alright?"

"I'm great." Sanosuke said through clenched teeth, giving up on cutting his meat and just stabbing it with a fork and lifting it to his mouth and ripping a bite off of it.

Talia giggled, finally removing her hand as she continued to eat. The rest of dinner went by smoothly, Sasuke and Talia actually were the ones who were talking the most, and it was usually to each other. Finally, they finished and Natsumi brought out dessert, which continued in the same manner.

"I'm so glad that we could do this." Talia said, nodding to her hosts and Sasuke. "Despite the insanity, it's been really fun."

Sanosuke wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Yes, thank you for having us over Mom. Dinner was delicious. As always."

"Glad you two could come." She nodded, gathering the plates and starting the dishes.

"Well I'm going to head home." Sasuke said. "Thank you for dinner Natsumi." He called to the pink haired woman. Then he looked at Talia. "Nice to meet you again Talia. I'll put together a training schedule and get it to you as soon as possible." The corner of his mouth tilted up in a small smile.

"Thank you!" she beamed, waving to him as he left. Sanosuke and Talia were out the door not too soon after that, already headed back to Sanosuke's home. "Well that wasn't too bad." She said, nudging her Uchiha.

Sanosuke scoffed. "Yeah, well you weren't getting rubbed beneath the table while you were trying to eat." He smirked, lowering his arm so that it was around her waist. "I never knew you were so devious."

"I tend to surprise people." She snickered, leaning against him as she wrapped her arm around him as well, resting her other on his abdomen. "You remember that first time you came to the hospital? And I kinda freaked out on you?"

He nodded. "Your face was red the entire time. I thought it was really cute."

"Yeah well, not moments before I had been thinking about you and your…uh…" she traced his abs. "Your body and mine…and things _may_ have gotten a bit…sticky…"

His eyes widened. "Really?" he asked, before smirking. "So that's why you ran off when Hayate said I was good in a sticky situation." He chuckled as they came upon his house.

She nodded, her face a dark red. "Yup."

"Well…I suppose I should confess something too." He sighed, opening the door for her and allowing her in. "Last night after you left…I…well I was still aroused, and I couldn't stop thinking about you lying on my bed…naked and covered in sweat…so I got some lotion…and took care of it myself." He blushed slightly as they walked into his living room.

Talia burst out laughing, shaking her head as she covered her mouth to try and hold back the sound. She just thought it was hilarious. "Oh Sano. You're so funny." She chuckled.

He pouted. "Just don't tell anyone. It's embarrassing."

"It's perfectly natural. The male libido is much more easily stimulated than a female's." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Is that so?" he raised a brow, stepping so that he was before her. He placed his hands on her hips then and moved them back so that he was holding her rear. "So does this stimulate your libido?" he pulled her against him. "Or must I do more?"

The blonde swallowed, her blush spreading across her cheeks. "More…" she whispered.

He smirked, lowering his head and kissing her slowly. He slipped his tongue between her parted lips, heating up the soft contact as his hands slid up her sides and cupped her breasts in his palms. They felt amazing, and he was eager to see them uncovered and unbound, free for him to do with whatever he pleased.

Talia let out a soft moan, her knees already feeling weak from the wave of heat that washed over her body. "Sano…" she muttered against his lips, touching his tongue with the tip of her own, deepening their kiss.

He pulled away from her, looking down at her flushed expression before his gaze lowered to his hands, which were kneading the mounds beneath them. His smirk widened, and suddenly he picked her up in his arms and carried her back to his room, carefully placing her on his mattress. "Talia, you're so beautiful." He murmured, lifting the bottom of her dress until it was over her head. He parted her legs and moved between them, rubbing her thighs. "And so soft."

She was dark red, she didn't know if she was ready to be this naked in front of him yet. At least, not without him being naked as well. "This is kind of embarrassing…" she whispered, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. After all, she had instigated this.

"Oh…um…here." Sanosuke blinked, straightening and beginning to fumble with the buttons on his shirt. He cursed under his breath for showing such nervousness in front if her, and just ripped open the material. He could always buy another one anyways. Tossing it onto the floor, he stood and yanked off his shoes and socks, before quickly removing his pants. Then he crawled back over her. "Is that better?" he asked.

Talia nodded, reaching up and resting her hands on his broad shoulders. Her gaze lowered and she bit down on her bottom lip. His body was even better than she had imagined it. His muscles were hard, but smooth, and his whole form was perfect. For the first time, Talia felt insecure about her body. How was she supposed to be matched with something like that?! "Are you okay?" he asked, seeing the look on her face. "Am I moving too fast? Do you want more foreplay before we get naked?"

"Oh no." she shook her head, subconsciously moving her arms to cover her body. "It's just…" she shivered, looking over him once more. "You're so gorgeous and I'm so…"

"Stunning?" he smiled, cupping her face with his hand. "Beautiful? Radiant?"

She blushed, swallowing hard. "You really think that?"

Sanosuke nodded. "Of course I do. You're enchanting." He breathed out, kissing her sweetly.

Talia kissed him back, her doubt fading as fast as it had come. "Just be careful. I know it hurts." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

"I will, I promise." He kissed her once more before making a trail down her neck and to her chest. When he reached her concealed breasts, he slipped his hands beneath her back to undo the clasp. Talia arched in order to aid him, but Sanosuke still had trouble undoing the small hooks. He frowned. "How do these things work?" he asked, looking up at her with a slightly lost expression.

The blonde giggled, reaching back and aiding him in his duress. She unclipped her bra and then removed her hands from them, allowing him to take off the material himself. "Wow…" he breathed out, staring at her exposed chest as he absentmindedly tossed her bra aside. He reached forward and gripped them then, marveling at their softness. His thumbs circled around the delicate buds in the center, before lightly pulling on them.

Talia groaned out, arching her back in want of his touch. It sent shivers down her spine like nothing she had ever felt. Her skin was hot beneath his hands as her heart pounded in her chest. This was it, she was going to have sex for the first time, and it was going to be with someone she really thought she loved. "I'm so glad that we can share each other for the first time." She said weakly, though her eyes were filled with joy.

Sanosuke's forest green gaze moved back up to her amber one, though he continued to play with her chest. "Me too." He smiled slightly. He kissed her once more, before making a slobbery trail down her stomach to the edge of her panties. He hooked his fingers beneath them and slowly pulled them down, finally getting her naked. As he looked over her flawless body, he pushed his boxers down his waist, swallowing hard as his nerves were beginning to catch up to him. Because the most crucial part was about to happen, and he didn't know if he'd even be able to last past penetrating her, he was so aroused.

But Talia reached down and took his hand in hers, lacing her fingers with his own. "Make me feel good." she whispered, tugging him forward so that he was over her. He nodded, positioning himself with his free hand at her entrance and rubbing his tip against her wet sex. A soft moan escaped her lips. He silenced the sound with his mouth, pinning both her hands down on either side of her and pushing his hips forward.

He entered her slowly, the head only in as the blonde's face contorted into one of discomfort. She was being stretched slowly and it was beginning to burn from the foreign sensation. He stopped instantly, his entire body shaking from the want to continue. "I want this to be the only time I ever hurt you on purpose." He said, kissing her. "Or at all." He whispered against her lips, covering her mouth as he finished sliding his member into her. He moaned as she cried out, both noises muffled as they did so into the other's mouth. When the sounds died down, he pulled away and looked down at her. "You're…so small…" he trembled, keeping still.

"I can't help it." she whispered out, sounding strained. Her nails dug into his hands as she housed him, trying to breathe in and out as calmly as possible. "I told you it's my first time…" she blushed. "For anything."

"I'm sorry." He cupped her cheek, stroking it with his thumb. He pulled out of her to the tip, before gradually entering her once more. "If I go slowly, you should start to feel better soon. Please don't hesitate to tell me otherwise, and I promise I'll stop." He said, repeating his actions.

"Just keep going. I just have to get used to it." she smiled, continuing her breathing so that she could keep her head. It would change eventually, she just had bear through it. He continued, moving slowly and she could only surmise it was because he was trying not to lose control on his hold. He was a virgin after all. It was a while before the burning sensation faded and shifted to a dull throb. It felt good though, her slick walls aiding him in his motions. She moved her hips towards his when he pulled out, the throb turning into a delicious craving. It felt like her body was trying to suck him in. "Oh God…Sano…" she moaned.

Sanosuke breathed out, shaking as her movements changed everything he was feeling. "Talia." He groaned, resting his forehead against hers as he thrust into her a bit more harshly. "Can I go harder?"

She nodded. "But not too much…at least just go faster for now." She whispered, whimpering when he hit her core with his member. She moaned out softly, her knees felt like they were jelly from all the nerves he was hitting on her insides. "It feels so good though…"

"If I go faster, I don't know how long I'll be able to last." He admitted tightly, increasing his pace only slightly to better be able to keep himself from ejaculating just yet. "You just feel so much more amazing than I thought you would."

"That's good." she giggled. "So I'm the best you've ever had." She said sweetly, her breathing picking up as he began to go harder. She panted, her eyes rolling back as he back arched. "Oh my…" she moaned. "Oh Sanosuke…! God yes!" she smiled, thrusting against him.

"Hah!" he exhaled, bringing her closer as he slammed into her over and over. Her walls were squeezing him, sucking him back into her every time he pulled out. A knot began to form in the pit of his stomach, and based on his experience this morning, he knew he was going to finish soon. "Shit!" he yelled, his bed rocking back and forth along with his motions before he stopped suddenly as he met his end inside of her. "Oh Talia." He buried his face in her neck, his body shaking as his seed continued to shoot forth.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, both of them out of breath and panting loudly from their antics. Sweat glistened on their bodies, mostly on Sanosuke's back and down his spine from his feverish efforts. Their lips found one another and they kissed desperately, lost in the feeling of being one. "Sanosuke." Talia whispered, looking up at him with hazy eyes. "I think I love you." she admitted finally.

He blinked, before smiling slightly. "I think…I might love you too." He said softly, brushing some of her hair from her forehead. "And it's scary, but at the same time, exhilarating."

Talia nodded, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back as she sighed. "I'm exhausted."

He chuckled. "You're telling me." he pulled out of her and rolled to the side, letting out a content sigh as he rested his hand on his stomach. "Want to sleep and then maybe…go again?" he asked, looking at her. "Because…I think with practice I could last longer…and I have some…things…that I want to try."

She blinked and looked over at him. "Like what?" she asked curiously.

"You know…techniques."

"Like?"

"Well I definitely want to try oral sex." He rolled onto his side to better face her. "And there's also some positions…you know, stuff like that."

Talia blushed. She'd forgotten that guys liked oral sex. But she was a bit apprehensive to the idea. "Right." she nodded and feigned a yawn. "Well when we wake up we can definitely try some new things but for now, I'm so ready for some sleep." She smiled, moving his covers with her feet and snuggling beneath them as she lay on her side.

He sat up a bit and did the same, pulling up the covers. Then he glanced at her back. Slowly, he moved closer to her and hesitantly wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back against his chest as he got situated. He kissed her shoulder, before laying his head down behind hers. "Goodnight Talia." He murmured.

"Goodnight Sanosuke." she smiled, snuggling into his hold. "You're amazing." She sighed, placing her hands over his.

"And you're wonderful." He smiled slightly. The two fell asleep then, both thinking about how much fun their week together was going to be.


	8. Beach Trip

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter Eight_

-Beach Trip-

_**Three months later…**_

Sanosuke walked through the streets of Konoha, on his way to Talia's apartment to pick her up. They were going on a family vacation to the Uchiha summer home on the coast. Izayoi had had the idea at the dinner that his mother had held for him and Talia all those months back, and it had taken this long to arrange everything. It was pretty hard to get the whole family together and make the village safe at the same time, after all.

He smiled slightly as he thought back on that night. It was the same night he and Talia had lost their virginities to one another. Since then they had been having sex any chance they got. Not that it was often, because they were both so busy, but each and every time they did they got better at it. She'd been a little nervous about trying the new positions and techniques that he'd come up with, but once they got started she got really into it. And the first time she'd gone down on him had been a great experience for the both of them. He'd felt amazing the entire time, and Talia really liked having that much control over him, something he didn't often allow her.

And when he was off on missions, Talia would train with his grandfather. She'd been able to perfect seeing through genjutsu quite rapidly, and so far knew the basics with a sword, as well as self-defense. Sometimes Sanosuke would go with her to her training sessions and they would spar, him going easy on her of course. He was very pleased with her progress, as well as the fact that his grandfather practically adored her as much, if not more than he adored his mother. Things were progressing so well, that Sanosuke was beginning to contemplate making his relationship with Talia permanent.

As he came upon her building, he looked up at the balcony he knew to belong to her, and frowned. Through the glass, he could see Talia talking to some man who looked old enough to be her father. He had a harsh, cruel look about him, his dark brown eyes full of hate and his sandy brown hair looking like it hadn't been washed or combed in days. By their posture and expressions, he could tell that whatever they were talking about was not a pleasant topic.

Suddenly Talia left the room, and when she returned it was with a wad of cash. She shoved it into the man's hands, and the smile he gave her was far from kind as he turned and left. Sanosuke stopped in his tracks, waiting until the man had exited the complex and walked off, before going up to Talia's apartment. He knocked on the door, wondering how he would be greeted by his girlfriend.

The door flew open and, for a second, amber eyes stared at him with such hate, it made his blood turn to ice. But it disappeared as quickly as it came, "Sanosuke…" she said softly. "Sorry, you're early. You just…surprised me." she stepped aside then, allowing him into the small abode.

He gave her an odd look. "Are you alright?" he asked, drawing her close to him and cupping her face with his free hand. "You seem upset." He stroked her cheek to try and comfort her, his curiosity about the man in her apartment before increasing. She leaned into his touch automatically.

"I'm fine. Just stressed. I hate packing, I always feel like I'm forgetting something important and it drives me crazy." Talia smiled slightly, looking up at him. "I'm almost done though. Just going over the checklist one more time."

His lips thinned slightly, because this time he knew for a fact that she was lying to him. "Do you need any help?"

"Um, sure." She shrugged, pulling away from him and going to her room as she finished looking down a small list she'd made. She repeated the things softly before nodding and zipping up her bag. "I'm pretty sure that's everything."

"Just remember that if you forget anything we can always go into the village and buy it." he said, picking up her large bag with ease. "Though I wouldn't mind too much if you ran out of clothes and we were confined to our room the whole time." He smirked, giving her a chaste kiss.

She almost smiled, shouldering her second bag. "But I've never been to the beach before and I just bought a new swimsuit for this vacation."

His interest sparked. "Really? What kind of swimsuit?" he asked as they exited her apartment. His imagination was already running wild with the possibilities, as he did love her body, and the chance to show off what was his made the idea all the better.

"You'll just have to wait and see." Talia giggled, bounding forward excitedly. "Now come on! I wanna get outta here as soon as possible!"

* * *

Kai let out a relieved sound as they finally made it to the beach house three hours later. "Finally!" he said, allowing all six of the bags he was carrying to hit the ground, only one of them being his. "I thought my back was going to snap in half." He sighed, rubbing his sore shoulders.

Izayoi smiled beautifully, adoring her family summer home. "Oh how I missed this place." She took in a deep breath, enjoying the salty sand in the air. All the Uchiha children, including Natsumi, seemed to relax and become lively all at the same time. Most likely from being surrounded by sand.

"Wow." Talia gasped. "It's gorgeous!" The sand was white and the ocean was a bright blue that she knew you could see through the closer you got.

"And it's ours for a week, so let's make the most of it." Akito said, walking forward. He hit Kai on the back, causing the grey eyed man to wince. "Come on pansy, your room is on the second floor at the end of the hall." He smirked, before moving and opening the front door.

Kai groaned, before picking up the bags once more and following his father-in-law. Hayate smiled. "Man, am I glad Chitose only has two, and they aren't even that big." He laughed, leading his wife inside.

"That's because I only brought what I needed." She chimed in with a giddy step. Natsumi walked through, already headed for the master bedroom to get ready for their first day. Everyone filed away and claimed their rooms, to prepare for the activities later. It was obvious that the agenda began with the beach. Talia followed Sanosuke into their room and she admired it before letting her gaze fall on her love.

"I can't believe it's already been four months."

He smiled at her as he set their bags on the bed. "I can. They do say that time flies when you're having fun, after all." He pulled off his shirt then, running his hand through his hair as he tossed the article aside and opened his bag. "So can I see your swimsuit now?" he asked, glancing up at her as he rummaged through his clothes.

"Nope." She beamed. "I have to unpack and then I will get dressed. You can go ahead and head out, that way it'll be a surprise. Plus I feel the scenery will be even better to show it off." She took one of her bags, unzipping it and beginning to place some of her bathroom items into the adjoining room.

Sanosuke pouted. "But Talia…" he whined, pulling out his black swim trunks, the Uchiha symbol sewn in to the bottom corner of the right leg. "I want to see it now. Can't I just wait for you to finish and walk to the beach with you?" he asked, taking his pants and boxers off before putting on his swimsuit.

"Nope." She said once more, continuing her task. "And if you don't leave, I'm not putting it on."

He huffed. "Fine. But it better live up to what I've invented in my head." He said, exiting the room. He walked down to the privately owned beach, seeing that his parents had already made it and were setting up. His father was putting together the volleyball net and court, while his mother laid out the towels and umbrellas for tanning. She had on a black halter top bikini with the Uchiha crest on the center back of her bottoms as well as on one of the triangles covering her breasts. Even though she'd had five children and was approaching her fifties, she still looked like a goddess.

He walked over and began to help his father, and it wasn't long afterwards that they were joined by Kanamé and Vitani. The brunette haired woman was wearing a bright blue bikini, that tied at her hips, the top a halter with large straps, fully covering her chest while only having a bit of cleavage.

"Hey Sano." Kanamé waved, in his own trunks. Most the Uchiha men went with the simple black. Natsumi looked up and brushed some of her bangs from her face.

"Hayate and Chitose are bringing out the picnic baskets." She informed them, taking her place on one of the towels.

"What's for lunch?" Vitani asked, claiming her own towel.

Hayate and Chitose walked up then, the youngest Uchiha carrying four baskets, while his wife held the cooler of drinks. "Sandwiches, fruit, and cheese and crackers, with water to stay hydrated. Though there's juice as well." He smiled, placing them underneath one of the large umbrellas so that they would stay out of the heat of the sun. Chitose set down the cooler, a smile adorning her face as well.

"Would you look at that ocean!" Noriaki called, walking out with Hikari close behind. The sun gave his jade depths a mischievous glint. The pale haired woman smiled, running forward enough to wrap her arms around her love from behind and looking around him as they continued to make their way towards the group.

"I can't wait to get in it and get wet." she giggled, giving him a devious look. She was wearing a crimson triangle string bikini, the top barely big enough to cover her large breasts as it tied behind her neck and back, the bottoms tying on the sides as they rode low on her hips.

"You two are simply disgusting." Izayoi rolled her eyes, putting on her sunglasses as Kai followed after her. The female Uchiha had on a black one piece, though it had holes along her sides to reveal her perfect curves. It dipped low on her back, but was still classy. Her dark hair was pulled up in a large, messy but stylish bun.

Noriaki shrugged, reaching back and tickling his girlfriend's sides. "You're just jealous that my lady is the most gorgeous and sexy thing on the beach."

Natsumi huffed up, glaring back at her son. "I beg your pardon?"

"I think you're the most gorgeous and sexy thing on the beach baby." Akito said, walking over and laying next to his wife before leaning over and kissing her sweetly. "So don't worry about it."

Hayate looked around at everyone, a frown marring his brow. "Hey Sano, where's Talia? Is she not coming?"

"She is." Sanosuke said, going over to the cooler and taking out a water bottle. "She wanted to unpack before coming down here."

"Smart." Izayoi nodded. "Cause' I definitely won't do it later." She said, catching a water bottle as Sanosuke tossed it over to her.

Kai sighed. "Which means I'll have to."

The dark haired woman smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you, my sweet salt and pepper."

"I love you too." He said.

Hikari pulled away from Noriaki, grabbing onto his hand and tugging him towards the water. "Want to go for a swim my sexy fine piece of man candy?" she asked.

He pulled her back and wrapped his arms around her, loving the feel of her body. That was until his grip loosened and his eyes widened. "Holy…"

"Shit." Kanamé finished for him. Both of the male triplets stared off towards the house, their jaws slightly slack. Everyone turned to see what had caught their attention and similar looks came to their faces. Talia was headed towards them, her blonde locks cascading around her in a shower of glittering gold. She had on large sunglass and a dark, forest green swim suit. It was strapless, wrapping only over her full and ample breasts. There was a metal U-shaped hold in the center, clipping the two ends of the fabric together and showing off a dangerous amount of cleavage. Her bottoms matched, tying at the sides with silver charms hanging from the ends.

"Hey everybody." She waved, throwing some of her hair back. It was like she belonged on the beach.

"I never knew she was that hot." Kai blinked, stunned.

"Neither did I." Hayate said softly.

Akito smirked. "Nice job Sanosuke."

Sanosuke simply stared in awe, slowly walking towards his girlfriend. "Wow." He said, placing his hands on her hips. "You look…words can't even describe how incredible that swimsuit fits you and accentuates your curves." He said, his gaze glued to her visible cleavage.

"Thanks." She beamed, looking a bit childish with her impish grin. "So was it worth the wait?"

"So worth the wait." He smiled, leaning down and kissing her sweetly.

Hikari huffed, seeing that Noriaki's gaze was still on the blonde. It was a great swimsuit, she had to admit, but that didn't mean everyone had to give her a bunch of undeserved attention. "Well I'm going swimming." She declared, pushing away from the ebony haired man and marching towards the water.

Vitani glanced at her friend before looking back at Talia, and then her husband. She frowned. "I think I'm going to join her." she said softly, getting up from her spot and following the pale haired woman, who was now muttering about the waste it had been to even buy a new swimsuit if Noriaki wasn't going to pay her any attention.

Talia giggled and latched onto Sanosuke's arm, not noticing the small glare she was receiving from the pink haired woman, or the negative feelings coming from the rest of the females on the beach. Noriaki walked up to them and pat his brother's shoulder, nodding to Talia. "You look amazing Blondie." He smiled, not sounding taunting in any way. "Good catch little bro."

"Thanks." Sanosuke smiled, keeping an arm around his woman's waist.

The older Uchiha glanced back to Hikari and sighed. "Oh come on woman! Don't get all hissy now!" he smiled, walking after her. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and didn't look back at him, continuing her strides into the water and diving beneath an oncoming wave. Vitani entered the water a bit more slowly, walking knee deep before sitting down in the surf and enjoying the sway of the tide.

Hayate laughed. "Well I'm glad Nori's finally in a better mood." He said, turning to his wife. "Hey Chichi, you wanna put lotion on one another so we don't burn before laying out?" he asked, pulling out the sun tan lotion.

"So long as your hands don't go where they shouldn't." she giggled, taking his hand and pulling him off.

Noriaki stopped at the water's edge. "Woman! Don't you ignore me! Everyone in the damn world knows your breasts are gorgeous and enormous. Now stop being a jealous little pansy and come out."

Hikari stopped what she was doing and glared back at him. "I am not being jealous!" she shouted. "I wanted to swim, and that's what I'm doing. You would know that if you had been paying attention!" she stuck her tongue out at him before facing away once more and floating up and down with the waves.

He sighed, placing his hands on his hips. "If you don't come out and spend time with me, I won't give you the special surprise I have planned for tonight." He smiled crookedly.

This caught her attention, as she turned back around to look at him once more. "What kind of surprise?" she asked, her expression and tone a lot less antagonistic than it had been.

"A surprise that you will remember for the rest of your life." he promised.

It didn't take her long to consider his offer, for she immediately began to make her way back towards the shore. She walked with hurried steps out of the water, not stopping until she was in front of the ebony haired man. "Fine." She crossed her arms, lifting her bosom slightly. "I'll be good."

He wrapped his arms around her wet form and snuggled into her. "I love you my sweet. No one could ever compare." He whispered.

"I love you too." She said mumbled, returning his embrace a bit reluctantly.

Talia smiled at the sight and looked up at Sanosuke. "He does seem in a much better mood. Wonder what happened?"

"So long as he isn't taking my spot as the family emo, I don't care." Sanosuke said. "So what do you want to do?"

"Whatever you want. I could go for a swim, or play some volleyball."

Kanamé chuckled, "Talia, we play some pretty intense volleyball."

She gave the eldest child a curious stare. "Is it so much different than regular volleyball?"

"Well…" he blinked. "No. But it's much more…dangerous."

"We use our kekkei genkai." Sanosuke explained. "It makes the game more fun."

"But genjutsu doesn't work on me." she pointed out. "So how could it be hard?"

He smirked. "I meant our sand."

"So you guys cheat?" Talia sighed, shaking her head. "And here I thought Uchihas were honorable and proud of their physical abilities."

"We _are_ honorable." Kanamé huffed.

"And we _are_ proud of our physical abilities." Noriaki grumbled.

Hikari smiled up at him, resting her chin on his chest. "Then why don't we play using just our physical abilities?" she asked. "Talia has a point. And since she isn't a ninja, it will make things a bit fairer."

Natsumi scoffed, but said nothing as she returned to lying on her back. As if any of her children could keep themselves from cheating. They were born to win and that still applied when they were against one another.

"I think it sounds fun." Chitose giggled.

Hayate smiled at her. "I think you're right Chichi. We should play after lunch. That way we all have plenty of energy. Cause' I don't want anyone passing out from heat exhaustion or anything." He laughed.

Talia clapped her hands together and nodded, heading over towards the lunch box and grabbing some sandwiches for her and Sanosuke. "Come on Sano, let's eat up." She gestured, getting some water as well and taking one of the towels. He sat next to her on the towel, smiling slightly at her enthusiasm as he took the sandwich from her.

Everyone else moved to join them, Vitani coming out of the water and sitting next to her husband. Sitting around in a circle on all of the towels, the Uchihas, and honorary Uchihas, began to eat their lunches. And for once, things actually looked like they were going smoothly.

"You know, I'm pretty excited myself." Noriaki spoke up, looking over at his brother and sister. They nodded as well, not needing their opinions voiced since their middle triplet had done it for them.

"I'll be surprised if you actually do it." Natsumi murmured.

"Just as we'll be surprised if you do it honey." Akito smirked, nudging her playfully.

Hayate smiled over at his parents. "Mommy will only start once somebody else cheats first." He said confidently. "Cause' she's not an instigator."

They all gave him skeptical looks, except for Natsumi, who continued to eat happily. "Seriously?" Akito asked, looking from his youngest to his wife. "You really did brainwash him."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said simply, tossing the crusts in a plastic bag. "I don't instigate so Hayate is right."

Noriaki scoffed. "_Please_! That is such bull crap! Where do you think I got it from?"

"It's more of where we _know_ you got it from Nori." Vitani said, taking a drink of her water.

"Hey." Noriaki pointed at her. "Only my blood and Hikari may incriminate me. So you hush."

Kanamé rolled his eyes. "You don't have to be blood to be able to incriminate you." He said to his brother.

"A total stranger could incriminate you, and they'd still be right." Sanosuke spoke up, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"You're all just jealous I'm the best looking." He scoffed.

"We look exactly the same." Kanamé huffed.

"So?"

The two glared at one another, before Izayoi cleared her throat. "I don't know why you're arguing about this. Everyone knows _I'm _the best looking." She smiled.

"Yeah, I'd have to agree with that." Kai said, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Well I'm the cutest!" Hayate declared with a big smile, raising his hand in the air.

"Nope." Izayoi giggled. "I'm the cutest too." She said snuggling into her love's embrace.

"You can't be both sister." Noriaki huffed.

"Can so!"

Talia looked over at Sanosuke, her brow up slightly as if saying, _Really_? Sanosuke chuckled, kissing her brow before looking out at his siblings. "I'm the most gorgeous." He smirked, not ashamed in the least.

Hikari rolled her eyes. "So. Noriaki is the sexiest." She smiled, leaning against said ebony haired man.

"Oh God will you all shut up!" Natsumi snapped, glaring at her children. "All you five are is fragments of your gorgeous father and me. So your looks, you get _no_ credit for."

"But dad got his looks from grandfather, and you got yours from grandma and grandpa, so doesn't that mean-" Sanosuke stopped what he was saying when he saw the glare sent his way. "I mean, you're right mom, it was a pointless argument anyways." he took a large bite of his sandwich then.

Natsumi smiled, finishing off her water. "Alright, let's play some volleyball."

* * *

"Holy crap! I _so_ did not see that coming." Noriaki laughed. The family sat around a large table on the porch at the house. It was just past sunset, the sky still burning with orange where the sun had disappeared.

Kanamé nodded. "Talia I had no idea you were so good at volleyball."

The blonde shrugged, reaching for her glass of fruit punch and smiled. "I was just having fun. We used to play in school all the time."

Everyone was dressed in casual beach clothes, most of the girls wearing simple dresses. They guys had on t-shirts and shorts to keep cool. "She's full of surprises." Sanosuke smiled, leaning back in his chair.

"What really surprised me was that you guys actually didn't use your sand." Vitani laughed. "It was a lot of fun."

Kanamé shrugged. "Yeah it was fun…it's more exciting though when we can try and kill each other."

Noriaki nodded to his brother, a dark smirk now on his face. "Well I'll go get dessert for everyone." He offered, getting up and leaving the room. Natsumi had prepared sorbet in fancy crystal glasses, each a different color and flavor. He passed them out and finally set one in front of Hikari and himself. They had decorations on them, some had umbrellas and others had fruit.

Hikari blinked, her brow furrowing as she noticed something glittering between the two cherries in her own treat. She leaned forward a bit to get a better look at it, gasping loudly when she realized that it was a diamond ring. She quickly sat back in her chair, her right hand shooting out and grasping her boyfriend's arm to get his attention. "Noriaki…" she whispered, looking at him with wide, vulnerable violet eyes. "W-what is that?" she asked, pointing to the ring with her free hand.

He blinked, looking at her sorbet and then the cherries. "Why that, dear, would be what us rich people call a diamond ring." He said smugly. Her gaze narrowed and she grabbed him by the shirt with both hands and jerked him closer to her.

"I see that." She hissed. "But _what_ is it doing there!" she demanded, her heart pounding so roughly she thought she might have a heart attack.

"Isn't that what people do to give their significant other an engagement ring?" he arched a curious brow, his smirk never dissipating. "Clever things like hiding it between cherries."

Her eyes widened once more, her grip on his clothes loosening. "Engagement ring?" she asked softly, looking at it once more. "You mean…you want to get married? For real?" her gaze returned to him.

Noriaki sighed, taking the ring from the sorbet and scooting his chair out. Every eye was on him, but that was okay. After all, every Uchiha was born in the spotlight. "Hikari." He said, taking her hand in his and holding the ring over her ring finger as he kneeled, making everyone's eyes widen. "You are smokin' hot. Your breasts are like two soft marshmallow mountains that I could suck on till my teeth rotted out. No one I've ever fucked has pleased me as much as your gorgeous body has."

Kanamé rolled his eyes. Sometimes his brother was unbelievable. "But…" he trailed off, meeting her gaze. "If that was the only thing I loved about you, I would have never asked you to live with me and share my world. You're beautiful and smart, and even if I'm wrong you have my back and point it out to me later while other people aren't around because you know I hate that. When you sleep, you breathe so softly, sometimes I think you're not at all and it scares me because I think you might never wake up. And when you roll over in the morning and look up at me with your insane smile, it makes my heart flutter, even if you're telling me to stop being a creepy freak by watching you sleep. You're the only one…I can talk with as well as sleep with. And when we have sex…I want to make you feel good, not just me. I want to have babies with you and watch you get old and wrinkly. And even then, I'll pound you so hard my hips might break." He smiled. "Besides, it's really cute how you practice writing your name with my surname instead of your own…and I kinda like the sound of Uchiha Hikari."

"You…know that I practice?" the pale haired woman asked, her violet eyes brimming with tears of joy.

"Sweetheart, you keep your diary in the space behind the bed. Ironically where I keep those naked pictures of you and the little outfit ones too. You know those ones I said I destroyed." He smirked. "It was pretty easy to find."

She huffed, an embarrassed blush coming to her face. But she wouldn't get mad at him, not now, in this moment. "Well what are you waiting for?" she sniffed, wiping at her face a bit with her free hand. "Ask me." she smiled, straightening.

"Oh…" he actually blushed. "Right. So…Hikari…do you…" he paused, swallowing hard. After all, this was a huge commitment. "Will you marry me?" he asked softly.

"Yes!" she squealed, watching as he slid the ring onto her finger. She jumped out of her chair then, practically tackling Noriaki to the ground as she wrapped her arms around him and began to shower him with kisses. "I love you." she murmured, before pressing her lips against his own.

Natsumi blinked, everyone else in awe. "Was I drugged or something?" she asked her husband, looking down at her dessert.

"I think if anyone here was drugged…it would have to have been Noriaki." The ebony haired man said, his eyes still on the sight of his son and now, soon-to-be daughter-in-law making out on the floor.

"Well it explains why Nori's been in such a good mood lately." Hayate smiled, taking a bite of his dessert.

Vitani just sighed. "And so begins bridezilla." Kanamé nodded, eating a spoonful of his sorbet.

Kai grimaced. "She's going to be worse than Izayoi." He said, his eyes widening as he looked to his wife. "Not that you were bad honey, I thought it was cute how you yelled at everyone, and threatened that one lady." He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

The dark haired woman gave him a cold glare before crossing her arms and mumbling something incoherent. Akito chuckled, "You know surprisingly, Natsumi wasn't a bridezilla."

"Yeah right." Kanamé laughed.

But Natsumi only appeared confused. "I wasn't. I was just glad daddy let me marry him at all."

"We got married as quickly as possible, and then went all out for our honeymoon." The eldest Uchiha said, leaning over and kissing his wife on the cheek. "And what a honeymoon it was." he murmured, nuzzling her affectionately. She giggled and snuggled back.

"So much sex." She shivered.

"Speaking of which," Hikari pulled away from her fiancé. "I think we should try and not have sex until our wedding night." She said in all seriousness. "So that way it's more special."

"Yeah," Kai laughed. "Like that's going to happen."

"What?!" Noriaki practically exploded. "No!" he glared. "That's not fair!"

"But baby," Hikari cupped his cheek to try and sooth him. "Think about how great it will be after so long." She reasoned.

"No." he glared, becoming very serious. "I don't step out of my comfort zone to not have sex. This is a huge thing for me to do. Weddings take weeks, maybe months to plan and get together! I'm not abstaining that long, nor can I. So unless you want me happy and in love on that day you will take back whatever crap you just suggested and have fun planning the most romantic day of our life."

She glared back at him and lowered her hand from his face. "Fine." She said, getting up from the floor. "If you will all excuse me, I'm going to go and get started." She walked around Noriaki and went into the house then, the door shutting hard behind her.

Kai whistled. "Yup, way worse."

Noriaki just rolled his eyes and walked off the porch towards the beach, causing everyone to look at one another. "Well I think I'm going to head to bed. It's been a long day." Natsumi sighed, gathering up the dishes and placing them in the kitchen.

"I'll help." Hayate said, picking up the rest and following her. Akito stood, going inside to go up to his and Natsumi's room.

Vitani yawned. "I'm pretty tired too." She said, covering her mouth. She smiled then and laid her head on her husband's shoulder. "You may have to carry me upstairs."

Izayoi scoffed, standing. "Why would he have to do that? You have two legs and a heartbeat." She said, before heading around the table with Kai behind her. "Goodnight all." She said before disappearing.

Talia blinked. "So…why is Hikari so pissed? Didn't the impossible just happen?"

"Who knows." Vitani said a bit dejectedly, straightening and getting up from the table. "I'm going to sleep." She kissed Kanamé on the forehead before walking inside.

The eldest sighed as he watched her leave. "I must go speak with Noriaki. Sano…will you…?" he smiled slightly, hope lighting his gaze.

"No." the younger man crossed his arms, remaining firm. "I am not getting involved in something that doesn't concern me. If she wants to act like a spoiled brat on what should be one of the happiest days of her life then it's her problem."

"Aw come on." Talia nudged him. "He's your brother."

"And Hikari is his problem, not mine." He said. "Why do I have to talk to her anyways? Why can't you make Vitani do it? They're friends."

Kanamé sighed. "Because, you understand Noriaki the best."

He glared at his elder brother. "Do not." He denied.

Talia smiled. "I think you do. You guys fight so much cause' you're so similar."

Sanosuke sighed. "Whatever." He stood. "I'm only doing it so you'll get off my back." He told his brother, before going into the house. He went up the stairs and down the hall, stopping before the room he knew Hikari and Noriaki to be staying in. Not bothering to knock, he entered the room, finding the pale haired woman sitting at the window and staring out at the ocean.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked, not even looking at him.

"I came to ask why you're being a bitch." He explained, walking over to her and leaning against the wall.

She frowned, tearing her gaze away from the form of her love and looked at him. "Why do you even care? All you ever do is antagonize Noriaki and make him feel bad. Not once in the entire time I've known him have you ever been nice to him. Even on his birthday."

Sanosuke looked out the window and saw that Kanamé had caught up with the other triplet. "It's the easiest way…for Nori and I to interact." He explained. "Besides, this is about you, not me. You should be grateful that he even asked you to marry him. Because everyone who knows him knows how much he hates commitment of any kind."

"I am grateful." Hikari's frown deepened, before it disappeared. "I just…I wanted our wedding night to be special." She shrugged, looking back out at her love, who now appeared to be arguing with his brother. "I mean, we have sex every night. I wanted something to set our wedding night apart from all the others. I wanted it to be as memorable as the night I gave him my virginity was. But all he cares about is the sex." She rested her chin on her hand, placing her elbow on the windowsill. "Shouldn't he be happy anyways that we're married?"

The Uchiha blinked. Were all women this complicated, as well as dense? He certainly hoped not, because he didn't know what he'd do if Talia ended up being anything like this. So far she wasn't showing any signs, but he was still going to keep an eye out for it. "That's stupid."

"Excuse me?" the woman asked, straightening and glaring at him. "No it's not."

"Yes it is." Sanosuke said, meeting her gaze. "Noriaki cares about the sex so much because it's the best way for him to express his feelings to you. You saw how hard it was in there for him." he gestured back out her door. "The fact alone that he chose to do it in front of our entire family, if at all, speaks volumes. And to him, the night will be special because it will be your first time as a married couple." He explained. "The first night in which you completely belong to him, and he to you."

She blinked, before looking back out at her fiancé's silhouette against the water, Kanamé's already having disappeared. "I…never thought of it that way." She admitted, before standing. "I need to go talk to him." she said, moving towards the door. She stopped then and went back over to him. "Thanks Sano, for being the voice of reason." She smiled, kissing his cheek before flitting out of the room.

He blinked, a small blush coming to his face from the compliment. He heard the screen door open and close downstairs, and so looked back out the window. He watched Hikari run towards his brother, leaping into his arms when he turned to acknowledge her. Seeing the couple kiss, he smiled to himself as he turned away from the window to give them some privacy as he made his way to his room. It was kind of nice to help out, but that didn't mean he'd do it all the time. He went into his room and looked around. "Talia?" he called, wondering if she'd come up to bed yet.

"Hey Sano." A voice said. Talia emerged from the bathroom wrapped in nothing but a towel. She was damp and her hair was being dabbed with another towel. "How'd it go?"

"Good." he began to undress so that he could shower as well. "The way things appear, they're going to wind up having sex on the beach." He told her.

She shivered. "Gross."

He chuckled, walking over to her and kissing her forehead. "At least the chances of us hearing them tonight have decreased." He explained, going into the bathroom and turning on the water. "You should have waited for me." he called back to her. "We could have saved water." He stepped in then, drawing the curtain closed as he began to wet his hair.

Talia giggled. "Sorry. I didn't know how long you'd be." She said, dropping her towel and going into the bathroom as she looked into the mirror. She brushed out her hair and began to braid it, tying it at the end. "Your brother was so cute when he proposed. As unwanted as some of that information was, it was adorable." She smiled, leaving the bathroom once more and pulling on a silky nightgown.

"Well he had to beat Kanamé and Hayate's proposals. Even Kai's." he said, washing his hair. "We're a pretty competitive family." He rinsed out the shampoo and put in conditioner, letting it sit as he began to wash his body.

She laughed and couldn't stop the words before they left her mouth. "Well I guess that sucks, huh? You're the last one to get married, so yours will have to be unbelievably earth shattering."

His eyes widened and he froze. She was right, he would be the last one. But did that mean that she wanted to marry him? Was she trying to hint that she wanted a proposal? They'd only been dating for a little over four months, and on top of that, had never even said they loved each other. The closest they got was the first night they were together, and since then the subject had never been brought up again. "…yeah."

He quickly rinsed off, turning off the shower and grabbing a towel, wrapping it around his waist before pushing the curtain back. Stepping out, he went into the bedroom to grab his pajama bottoms from his bag before nearly running back into the bathroom to dry off and get dressed. He didn't want Talia to see anything that could be portrayed on his face before he could get a handle on himself, after all.

He didn't even know if he loved her. Well, that was a lie. He was pretty sure he did, and as far as potential mates went, she was perfect. Smart, beautiful, witty, not to mention the kekkei genkai that would be passed onto their children, making them all the more deadly. Talia was his perfect match in every way. He just didn't know if he was ready for such a commitment, because the moment he told her of his feelings he could never take them back. And putting himself in such a vulnerable position did not sit well with him.

Dressed in his black pajama pants, he hung up his towel and went out into the bedroom, turning off the lights. "So what do you want to do tomorrow?" he asked, trying to change the subject as he joined her in bed.

"I dunno." She shrugged, turning on her side with her back to him. "Whatever your family wants to do I guess. It was fun playing with them on the beach."

"Okay." He rolled to face the opposite way she was and closed his eyes. "Night."

Talia stared at the wall, straining her ears as she listened to him. She could tell when he was asleep by now, and he definitely wasn't. "Sano…" she whispered.

It took him a while, but finally he answered. "Yeah."

"Will you…hold me like you normally do." she blushed. He probably thought she sounded so needy now and after the marriage comment, she didn't know how he'd react. She almost thought he would say no, but then she felt the bed move, and soon Sanosuke's arm wrapped itself around her, and he kissed her neck before laying his head behind hers like he always did.

"Better?" he asked.

She nodded, smiling as she placed her hands over his, intertwining their fingers. "Goodnight Sano."

"Goodnight Talia."


	9. Exploitation

**Fortuitous**

_Chapter Nine_

-Exploitation-

_**Two months later…**_

Talia groaned softly, placing her hand over her side. She was sitting in the nurse's break room at the hospital, wearing light purple scrubs. Her side throbbed, and after she looked around to make sure no one was coming in, she lifted her shirt and examined the dark blue and purple bruise along her ribs. She lowered her scrubs once more and allowed a stray tear to slide down her cheek. The worst part was that Sanosuke thought something was wrong, because she'd made up excuses to get out of sleeping with him. If he saw the bruise, she didn't know what she'd do.

And she really missed sleeping with him, snuggling up against him at night, with his arms wrapped around her. She groaned out, leaning forward and covering her face with her hands, the action only causing another throb to shoot through her joints. What was she going to do? Ever since Noriaki and Hikari's wedding, her abuse had only been getting worse. The more time she spent with Sanosuke and the Uchihas, the more frequent the visits from her 'guest' became. She didn't know how much more her body or her wallet could take.

The blonde got up and went over to the cabinets, taking down some paste. She lifted her shirt once more and bit down on the edge to keep it up and out of the way. She squeezed some of the gel out and began to apply it to the tender skin. The door opened then, Talia's eyes widening as she saw a familiar pair of legs walking in with a massive bouquet of flowers, which dropped the second Sanosuke's forest green eyes saw the bruise.

"I thought…you were upset with me…and I came to make it right…" he blinked, obviously stunned by the sight. "And…_that's_ why you won't even let me touch you?!" his expression grew angry as he pointed to the offending bruise marring her perfect skin.

"Sanosuke! Please!" Tears swelled in her amber eyes. "It just really hurt and I didn't want you freaking out. It's not that big of a deal." she tried to calm him, now holding her hands up in a placating manner as she approached him.

"Not that big of a deal?" he asked lowly, his sand stirring and covering the entrance to the kitchen, keeping them and their conversation hidden from those who would eavesdrop. Before Talia knew what was happening, she felt herself being lifted and was suddenly sitting on the edge of the table, the act surprisingly not hurting her in any way. Sanosuke yanked her shirt up and looked at the bruise once more. "This is a huge deal, Talia." He said, looking up at her, hurt flashing through his eyes. "And you trying to cover it up only makes it worse." He gently placed his hand over it and allowed it to glow a soft green as healing energy flowed from him to the blonde.

"But I knew you'd overreact…" she said softly. "I just…fell…it happens." she shrugged, looking off as he did his work. She felt her muscles relax now that the pain was easing, and she let out a tired breath.

He frowned, turning his attention to her bruise. "Why are you lying?" he asked. "I may not be as proficient medically as Hayate, but I know what it looks like when a person's been kicked repeatedly in the side."

"Because I don't want to talk about it!" Talia yelled, her hard gaze turning into a glare, though it wasn't purposely aimed for him. "Just leave the matter alone. It's not important."

The Uchiha stopped what he was doing and gripped her chin so that she was looking at him. "You are important to me." he said, running his thumb along her jaw. "And anyone who harms you is my concern. Please…don't shut me out." he begged.

"No…" she tried to shake her head as she cried. "I don't want you to do anything and you will…it's just easier…"

He cupped her face, framing it in his hands. "Talia, I won't just stand by and let someone hurt you. And I _will_ find out who it is whether you tell me or not." He said with conviction. "Sweetheart…please."

"Please don't…you'll only make things worse…he's persistent." She sighed.

Something began to click in Sanosuke's mind, and he pulled away from her, his gaze hard. "It's that man that follows you around, isn't it?" he asked, clenching his fists. He should have known, should have done something, but the one time he had brought it up she hadn't wanted to talk about it, and he was not one to pry when people wanted to keep things to themselves. But this was a matter he refused to drop. "The one I asked about."

Finally Talia sighed, her defeat apparent on her face. "He's my stepfather."

Sanosuke closed his eyes, trying to get a hold on his temper. He let out a deep breath and opened them, before placing his hand back over her bruise and beginning to heal it once more. "Tell me about him." he ordered softly.

Her gaze hardened as she looked off. "He murdered my mother…that's all there is to him."

"Why does he still bother you?" he asked, keeping his breathing even.

"I don't know…he was always mean to me, though my mother never seemed to notice." She sighed, swallowing hard since she was trying not to cry. "He would tell me I was going to be worthless and end up like my mother. And once she finally started standing up to him, she died. I could never prove it was him, but I know he did it. After that, he just harassed me. He left me alone for a while cause' I was 'useless' to him, but when I started working at the hospital and making money, he sought me out and…threatened me."

Sanosuke finished healing her, lowering her shirt and looking back at her face. "He threatened you?" he asked stiffly.

"He always does, but I can't really do anything about it. He's a jounin and I'm just…well, me." She sighed. "Every time I'm around him I feel like I'm seven years old again and it's just…scary." She frowned, fixing her shirt as she smoothed it out.

He cupped her cheek, tilting her face up so that he could look at her. "I promise, I will make sure he never comes near you again. Whether or not I have to kill him."

"No!" she yelled, her eyes widened to the size of saucers. "You can't!"

His lips thinned in displeasure. "Very well. If his life is so important to you then I won't. But I _am_ going to make him leave you alone. Forever."

Talia almost exploded. "He is _not_ important to me whatsoever!" Then she seemed to reign back in her emotions. "I just…don't want you to be like him…"

Sanosuke let out a sigh, before kissing her forehead. "I won't kill him, I promise. I won't even touch him." He murmured, bringing her closer to him and wrapping his arms around her to reassure her. He set his chin on the top of her head. "I just wish you had told me about this sooner."

"It wasn't so bad…till these past two weeks." She mumbled into his shirt, wrapping her arms around his midsection.

"Noriaki and Hikari got married two weeks ago." He frowned, beginning to stroke her head.

She nodded. "It was in all of the papers, with us all there." She sighed, "Last thing he said to me was that I had it too good for what I deserved."

He pulled back a bit and stroked her cheek. "Don't ever believe that. You deserve so much more than I could ever give you." he said, leaning down and kissing her tenderly.

Talia kissed him back, threading her fingers through his hair. She pulled away for a moment and looked down. "Um…" she sniffed, lowering one of her hands and pulling down the hem of her scrubs to reveal another large bruise on her thigh. "Could you…?"

He nodded, grabbing her pants and pulling them down even farther, letting them hang at her ankles. He placed his hand on her thigh, summoning healing chakra to his hand once more. "Are there any other bruises?" he asked, rubbing his hand along the bruise.

"No…the rest are already gone."

"Hm." As the mark disappeared, Sanosuke set his free hand on her opposite thigh, rubbing them both soothingly. "You have no idea how crazy you were driving me." he kissed her once more, his hands slipping to her inner thighs. "I don't take rejection very well."

Talia whimpered, setting her hands on Sanosuke's shoulders and pushing him back a bit. "Sano…I have to get back to work." She whispered, her cheeks tinted with a light pink.

"Now?" he whined, pouting slightly. "But it's been over a week since I've been able to do this." he slid his hands to her rear and pulled her pelvis against his.

She shook her head, giggling. "Yes now, I have a surgery to assist." She smiled, draping her arms around him once more and kissing him. "I'm so sorry for making you feel bad…I was just scared…"

He cupped her cheek and returned her kiss. "Don't ever be scared to tell me anything." He murmured. "Okay?"

"Okay." She said softly, her grip on him tightening.

Sanosuke buried his face into her neck, nuzzling her. "I will do the same." He promised, kissing the skin there.

She sighed contently, hugging him tightly. "But I really need to go." She smirked.

He groaned, holding her closer. "Fine." He sighed, pulling away from her. He bent and picked up her pants, helping her put them back on. "How about you come over tonight and I make dinner, and then we can pick up where we left off?" he asked.

"That sounds wonderful." Talia smiled, hopping down from the counter. "I'll come over around seven."

"Perfect." He kissed her quickly, the sand in the doorway dissipating to reveal a crowd of nurses staring curiously at the spot.

Hayate pushed through. "Sano, I will not stand for you coming into my hospital and disrupting everything! You two better not have had sex on that table, because I eat there!" the younger man said, stopping when he saw the flowers on the floor, as well as the glass. He gasped. "This is a hazardous area!" he screeched, thrusting his hands into his hair. "There are four…no five, violations right here!"

Talia rolled her eyes and walked toward her boss. "Oh relax Hayate-sama. Just get a janitor to clean it up." She grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall as the other nurses giggled. The blonde looked back and waved, blowing a kiss to Sanosuke before her and the youngest Uchiha disappeared towards the surgery wing.

Sanosuke smiled, glancing at the giggling nurses before leaving in a swirl of sand. He had a lot of work to do if he was going to scare off Talia's stepfather, and get dinner ready by seven.

* * *

Talia headed towards Sanosuke's house, wearing a dark red dress that tied around her neck. It hugged her tightly, but fell around her legs, stopping at her knees. She always loved dressing up for him, and she liked to see what colors he liked best. Hayate had once told him that sexual desire could be triggered by color. She smiled, just thinking about her love. But when she opened her eyes she slowed to a stop, her path blocked by a single form.

"And just where do ya think you're going?" a rough voice asked.

"Hajime…" Talia forced out in a clipped tone. But she stood her ground and tried to move out of his reach by going around him. "I'm going to my boyfriend's house." He moved fast, and before Talia could react she was slammed against the wall of a building, held by her throat.

"You little _priss_." He seethed. "Just because you have an Uchiha sugar daddy now, doesn't mean you get to move on. You belong to me, just like your mother did, and it seems just beating your body won't be enough anymore. You're going to come with me and work to bring me food and cook all my meals…and satisfy me till the day I die." He smirked, cupping her through her dress.

She smacked him, but his grip didn't lessen, he only choked her more. She clawed at his hand, trying to get some relief, but none came. Sanosuke! She screamed in her head. She felt his grip tighten even more, before it suddenly disappeared. Her hand went to her throat to soothe the ache caused by Hajime's treatment, and when she looked up she saw him being held in the air by a mass of sand. "The only person Talia will _ever_ belong to is me, and that is by choice." a familiar voice said from the shadows.

Sanosuke walked out then, his sharingan activated. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on her." he growled.

"Sanosuke!" Talia gasped, though it sounded more like a cough. But Hajime turned into a liquid substance and melted through the grains before reforming on the ground.

"The little Uchiha brat." He spat. "You would do well to stay out of other people's business."

"Talia is my business." Sanosuke replied, moving so that he was between the older man and the blonde as his sand came back to him. "And no longer any of your concern."

The older man scoffed. "She will be my concern till the day she dies."

Talia shrunk back, avoiding his gaze. Sanosuke didn't even seem intimidated. "Actually, once I take you in to be interrogated by the Yamanakas, and it's proven that you killed your wife, you will be properly dealt with. And no longer a part of Talia's life."

The blonde looked up at the back of her love's head. "Sano…you're…restraining?" she whispered.

"But I'm not." Hajime shot forward, only to be kneed in the stomach by another dark haired man. Sanosuke and Talia both had to double take on what had just happened. Noriaki sighed and played with a bit of controlled fire on his fingertips.

"I really hate when gross old men mess with cute girls." He said humorlessly, letting the fires drop down from his hand and ignite Hajime's clothing. He screamed out, a shrill sound that could only be described as cowardly, as he rolled around trying to put out the flames.

Sanosuke blinked. "Nori…how did you know?" he asked, allowing for his sand to form back into his gourd on his back.

"Hikari needed me to go get something called…doilies…to see which ones she liked best." He shrugged. "I dunno what the fuck those things are, so I was coming back to tell her I needed help when I saw this creeper and Talia. I was about to intervene but you were here…so I just waited to see if you needed me." He explained, kicking Hajime back down when the man had stood to try and run away.

The younger man nodded. "Well, I promised Talia that I wouldn't touch him…so…" he watched the man try to crawl away. "But he does need to be taken care of through the justice system."

"Duly noted." Noriaki nodded, snapping his fingers, which caused the fire to go out. Hajime tried to scramble up, but Noriaki stomped him to the ground once more. "Annoyingly persistent this one is." He sighed, leaning over and grabbing him by what was left of his shirt. "I will take him in for you." Noriaki smirked, looking back at his brother. "Looks like you guys had a date planned." He said. The dark haired triplet waved, disappearing with Hajime in a swirl of sand and leaving the two alone.

Talia blinked. "Wow…" she breathed out, but was staring at Sanosuke. "You really didn't…" she trailed off. "And you got Noriaki to…" she was in utter awe.

He turned and looked at her, his eyes fading back to green as he smiled slightly. "I promised, didn't I? And I don't break my promises." He cupped her cheek. "Are you alright?" he asked, sliding his hand lower to heal whatever harm had been done to her neck.

She nodded. "Yes. I'm fine. I'm just so glad."

Finished, he framed her face with his hands. "You will never have to worry about him ever again. I promise. My father will make sure that he gets what he deserves." He laid his forehead against hers then. "I'm only sorry I couldn't save you from him sooner."

"I promise, it's fine." She giggled. "You did so much more than you can even imagine."

He smiled and kissed her, before pulling away and taking her hand in his, lacing their fingers together as he resumed their walk. "Wait until you see what I made for dinner." He smirked.

Talia nearly bounced, taking his hand and pulling him back towards the Uchiha District. "I'm starving!"

They made it back to his house, and when they walked in to the dining room it was set up similar to all of the other times they had eaten dinner together, only the salad this time was a Cesar. Sanosuke walked her over to the table and pulled out her chair for her, moving to his own seat once she was comfortable. "Well, today certainly has been eventful, hasn't it?" he asked, unfolding his napkin and placing it in his lap.

"Yes it has." She agreed.

They finished out their date in companionable silence, talking about a few things, but mostly enjoying one another's company. And when dessert was over and done with, Sanosuke took Talia back to his room and did just what he'd promised. He picked things up from where they'd left it in the break room at the hospital, only he took his time during the entire process, worshipping Talia's body the way it deserved and drawing out both of their pleasure. Tired and sated, the couple fell asleep in one another's arms, things finally looking perfect in their relationship.


End file.
